A New Friend, or Foe?
by Arrgosax
Summary: After Ichigo is the only survivor of the Winter War, he wanders the Hollow world seeking revenge on the Arrancars and Hollows that he feels are responsible for his friends’ deaths. But a new powerful Arrancar appears and befriends Ichigo along his journey
1. Ch1: The New Friend

This is my first story ever. I'm not much of a writer and I also hate writing, but I do love to read (which is weird now that I think about it). Well here is my Bleach story; it takes place after the Winter War with Aizen. Please Review and Comment. Enjoy!

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The wind howled quietly. Ichigo sat perched on a rock in the middle on the white sands of Hueco Mundo. The Winter War has been over for some time. Ichigo stared off into the vast emptiness, his hands covered with blood as he held the severed head of an Arrancar.

Ichigo lifted the head to stair into its eyes. The Arrancar's head was of a young boy who looked not much older than Hitsugaya. The mask remnants were covering his right eye like an eye patch with a spiked brow.

Ichigo looked at the lifeless head and became enraged. "Because of YOUR kind, they're all DEAD!" he screamed as he reached for the "eye patch" and ripped it out it out of the head crushing it in his hand. Ichigo began to cry and threw the head.

"So how long has it been?..." a voice asked behind Ichigo, "How long?"

"Leave me alone,"

"Come on… SAY IT! How long!?"

"… It's been 3 years, 6 months, 23 days, 10 hours, 3 minutes, and 21, 22, 23 seconds since they died."

"So, you remembered till the very last sec…"

"OF COUSE I REMEMBERED! THEY WERE MY FRIENDS!"

"You mean they ARE your friends," the voice, coming from an Arrancar, said, "They still live in you." Ichigo said nothing as he continued to cry. The Arrancar walked closer to Ichigo.

The Arrancar was a thin light-brown skinned man with dark-brown spiky hair and wore a plain white long sleeve shirt with semi-baggy pants. He also wore a pair of glasses with a long ripped and tattered robe fastened on his shoulders like a cape. The robe was made with each number of the 13 Gotei captain robes sewn together, with some numbers still covered with blood. His mask remnants cover his chin and make a "goatee" with a spike pointing down. The remnants continue to follow his bottom jaw edges which lead to spikes coming out of his back jaw. The last remnant pieces are on his hair line above his eyebrows which were four spikes, two on each side.

"Look at you, the mighty Ichigo. The only Shinigami to survive the Winter War. The only Shinigami to ever live in Hueco Mundo and have every Hollow flee in terror as he walks by. The only Shinigami to hunt down and crush the broken masks of a living or dead Arrancar. You wear adornments of his fallen friends…"

"Shut up!"

"The friends you say that are dead…"

"Shut up!"

"Look at you! You are THEM!"

"I said SHUT UP!" Ichigo grabbed the bloody Zangetsu off his back and jumped towards the Arrancar. With a blinding fast swing, Zangetsu slams into the floor. Ichigo looked around in shock. "Where the FUCK are you!"

"My, my, Ichigo… you missed." Ichigo turned to see the Arrancar standing on the rock he jumped off of. Ichigo fell to his knees and dropped Zangetsu on the floor. "Why?" Ichigo asks

"Why, what?"

"Why are you messing with me!? You've been following me and disappearing and reappearing everywhere! Why can't you let me die in piece" Ichigo demanded as he hit the floor with his fist. The force sent a small shock through the sand. The Arrancar said nothing. The wind howled ever so slightly.

"Because if you die," the Arrancar started, "your friends die with you. I can't let that happen."

"You keep talking as if their alive."

"They are, Ichigo. Look at yourself." Ichigo stood up and looked at himself. The Shinigami uniform he wore was ripped everywhere. Most of his arms were bandaged as well as his torso. Ichigo also wore a bloody and torn Quincy cape over this left shoulder that had two flower pins on it. On the left side of Ichigo's waist were two katanas and an amulet around his neck.

"Ichigo, that Quincy cape… it was Uryū's wasn't it?" Ichigo remained quiet, "And those pins are Orihime's and the amulet was Chad's. Wasn't it?"

"Yes," Ichigo whispered.

"Those katanas, they're Rukia's and Renji's zanpakutos, right." The Arrancar said with a slight smirk. Ichigo didn't respond. "They live through you, Ichigo. You are your friends now!"

"SHUT UP!" Ichigo roared as he reached for Zangetsu, but the Arrancar kick the zanpakuto out of Ichigo's reach. Ichigo looked up in amazement at the speed of the Arrancar. He then felt pain, as the Arrancar's fist connected with his face. Before Ichigo realized he was flying through the air and into a small rock wall.

"COME ON, SHINIGAMI! IF YOU'RE GOING TO FIGHT, FIGHT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"

Silents.

"Well I guess that was all you ha…"

"HOWL, ZABIMARU!" In a flash, a large blade stretched toward the Arrancar. Like out of thin air, the Arrancar blocked the attack with his zanpakuto with ease.

"So, you can use the power of your fallen friends. I knew you had it in you and look! Your spiritual energy change Zabimaru all black. HAHAHA!!!" With at said, Ichigo flash stepped in fort of the Arrancar in the middle of his laugh.

"_La Muerte_" Ichigo left arm began glow as he took a swing at the Arrancar. As Ichigo fist tried to connect, the Arrancar switches his zanpakuto to the other hand to grab Ichigo's punch with his right hand. "Wha!"

"You're good, but I am far better," with a smile the Arrancar clenched his fist and broke some of Ichigo's fingers.

"FUUUUUCK!" he yelled as the Arrancar raised his left arm to swing his zanpakuto.

"DIE!" the he yelled as his arm slammed down, but was suddenly stopped as his zanpakuto hit a wall of dark red light.

"_Santen Kesshun,_ I reject" a dark wall of light blocked the Arrancar's attack. Ichigo smiles as he stabbed the floor with the black Zabimaru and reached for the other zanpakuto with his freed right hand. As Ichigo unsheathe it he called "Dance, _Sode no Shirayuki_,"

"FUCK!" the Arrancar tried to jump back but was catch by his wrist. "First dance, _tsukishiro!_" With that said a giant circle formed under the Arrancar and froze him in a pillar in black ice.

"I did it" Ichigo said quietly. As he turned away and started to walk, but as Ichigo walked away he heard cracks. "No, impossible!" The giant ice pillar cracked slowly at first then suddenly shattered all together.

"The zanpakuto, once dubbed most beautiful zanpakuto in all of the Soul Society has turned black with a red trim; it's like the yang to its yin… or is it the other way around. HAHAHA!!! I don't care lets continue this fight!" the Arrancar ran towards Ichigo dragging his zanpakuto on the floor.

Ichigo switch hands and picked Zabimaru, "BANKAI!" Black smoke surrounded Ichigo as the giant black bone snake charged head on. The Arrancar jumped on Zabimaru's head and ran down its spine. "Shit!" Ichigo touched Zabimaru with the tip of Sode no Shirayuki and said, "Second dance,_hakuren!_" Three black waves of ice ran up the spine on Zabimaru. The Arrancar leaped over them and as he fell, he prepared to strike.

"_Santen Kesshun,_ I reject" a light shield block the aerial attack but the impact cracked that shield and forced Ichigo on one knee.

"HAHAHA!!! You're getting better" the Arrancar laughed as he disappeared and reappeared behind Ichigo. Before Ichigo had time to react he was kicked the ribs, breaking two, and caused Ichigo to spit up blood. He was then kicked in the face and sent flying.

"Is that all you got Ichigo?"

"Not yet!" Ichigo dropped Sode no Shirayuki and raised his left arm straight towards his opponent and gathered the spirit particles around him to form a bow.

"Crap! This is gonna suck!" as the Arrancar said this Ichigo shot ten extremely fast arrows at him. As Ichigo continued to shoot, the Arrancar dodged each arrow with ease, until "Got ya! NOW ZABIMARU! CRUSH HIM!" As the Arrancar stopped the segments of Zabimaru began to reform around him. When Zabimaru was finished reformed in an instant, the snake constricted the Arrancar and buried him with the many segments that form it.

"CRUSH HIM! ZABIMARU!" The snake squeezed harder and harder until CRACK! "WHAT!" Ichigo said in shock. Zabimaru's segments began to crack for some unknown reason.

"Puncture, _Puerco espín_!" the Arrancar exclaimed as many of Zabimaru's segments broke and freed the Arrancar jumped with great speed and kicked Ichigo the face. "HAHAHA! That was good, Ichigo. But you still have to get used to those powers. You know them but… you need to master them."

Ichigo sat up to see the Arrancar. He was in his released form. The Arrancar's entire body was covered in a white armor and he still wore the cape. Spikes covered most of his forearms and long spikes stuck out of his shoulders and back. His hands and feet were now claws and talons. The Arrancar's mouth was coved with armor that showed, his now razor sharp, teeth and one to two feet long white spikes became his new hair.

"Ichigo…" he stated, "your friends are still alive in you. I can save them but you need to get stronger!"

"Why…why do you want to help me? You Arrancars are all the same! Your kind killed my friends, so why would you help me!?" as Ichigo said this he fell to his knees, looked down at the floor and started to cry.

"We are not all the same. That least not a few of us." Ichigo didn't respond. The Arrancar sighed and said "Well at least you're strong and caring. Nell got that part right, at least." At the mention of the name Ichigo looked up but saw nothing. The Arrancar was gone and there was only sand.

"Wait! Wait! What did you say!?" Ichigo yelled as he looked around. But there was no response, only the howling of the wind.

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Please Review and Comment! Feel free to ask questions! Thank you!


	2. Ch2: The First Brother

Here's part two. Please Review and Comment. Thank you and enjoy!

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Ichigo walked aimlessly through Hueco Mundo with glazed over eyes, his zanpakuto being dragged behind by the clothed hilt. As passed a rock he heard a squeak. Ichigo turned his head slightly and threw Zangetsu at the rock.

Ichigo walked closer to the ruble, and saw a small squirrel-like hollow scared half to death. Ichigo slowly reached for the small squirrel and picked up it up by the tail. The squirrel tried to run but to no avail so it bit him. Without even a flinch, Ichigo grabbed its body with his left hand.

The squirrel looked up at Ichigo, petrified with fear. Ichigo, with still glazed eyes, began to tighten his grip. The squirrel squealed in pain as Ichigo continued to tighten his grip until its bones cracked one by one. After a few seconds squirrel stopped its cries of pain.

Ichigo dropped the squirrel, picked up Zangetsu, and began to walk aimlessly again. "Damn. I never though Ichigo, or anyone for that matter, could be so cruel to an innocent little creature," the same Arrancar as before said as he walked along side Ichigo, "that was messed up. Well I guess you're better at this than Ashido… he would only hind and kill whatever got too close to his little house. But you look for death, so you hunt. Isn't that right?"

"Leave me alone, Arrancar."

"Now Ichigo, that isn't nice, how long have we known each other? Why don't you call me by my name?"

"Because you NEVER TOLD ME! YOU JUST APPEAR AND BUG ME!"

"Ok… fine. I didn't mean to get you pissed, my bad."

"Just leave."

"Nnnnnnnnnnn… no, I don't think so, by the way the name is Red."

"I don't care, leave."

"Fine then Mr. Grumpy, I'll leave without giving you the message Nell told me to gi…" before Red could finish his sentence Ichigo picked him up by his cape and put Zangetsu next to his throat.

"DID YOU SAY NELL!?"

"Yes."

"DO YOU MEAN NELIEL TU ODERSCHVANK!?"

"Yes."

"Where is she? TELL ME! Or I swear, I'll tare you apart, limb by limb and smash your skull in!"

"Easy, Ichigo put me down and I'll tell you what the message was first…"

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS NOW!" Ichigo demanded before he was suddenly kicked in the chest and sent flying. Ichigo was forced to let go of Red, who delivered the kick.

"Sorry, but I can't do that just yet. I don't think you should meet her. " Red explained as he put his hands in his pockets. He began to walk forwards Ichigo. "Have you calmed down? Can I give you the message?"

"What is it?" Ichigo said with an annoyed tone.

"Nell says that she is worried about you and that she misses you…"

"Then why don't you let me see her!?" Ichigo interrupted.

"Because she also said that when I feel you're ready to see her, I should bring her to you." Red said as he stopped a few feet in front of Ichigo. "And I don't think you're ready."

"Please… please I haven't seen anyone I know in ages. Just…hollow after hollow…please," Ichigo begged as he crawled toward Red and grabbed his pants. "Please…" he whispered softly. Red glared at the pathetic begging Ichigo. Unimpressed, Red sighed.

"I'll bring her under one condition…" Ichigo stood up looked at him with eagerness.

"What?!"

"Calm down and let me finish. I'll bring her to you, if you…" Red began as he stopped for a second and turned around, "What are YOU guys doing here?" Ichigo looked behind Red to see another two Arrancars behind him.

One looked like a young girl with a hooded robe coving her head and body. She was close to Rukia's height. She also had big green eyes and pale skin. The other was a man, who looked slightly "thicker" than Red, sitting next to the girl. He too, had robe that shaded his face from view. He had the same shirt as Red, only not as wrinkled, and what looked like ironed down pants with a crease down each pant leg.

"Arrgosax is getting fussy waiting for you. He's yelling and fighting with Nell. Kruznik here said we should get you." The girl said pointing at the man sitting next to her.

"You guys don't need me to keep Arrgosax calm. You can do that by yourself, Kruznik."

"Yes, I can but I choose not to interfere with such petty matters." The Arrancar, Kruznik, answered plainly without moving an inch. "Further more, is it not your duty to keep your little brother in line?"

"You should talk; he's your brother too." Red answered, "I'll go when I'm done here. I know you can watch him for a few more minutes."

"Ok! Lets go home Kruznik, I'm hungry." The girl said as she pulled Kruznik by the arm. Kruznik stood up and began to walk away.

"Do not take too long, Redeemer. Arrgosax seem determined to kill Nell this time. You should hurry." Kruznik said without turning to face Red. Ichigo ran to Kruznik, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

"WHO IS ARRGOSAX!? I'LL KILL HIM IF HE HURTS NELL!" Ichigo demanded to know. Kruznik glared at Ichigo with cold emotionless eye. Ichigo, unfazed by the stare, stood his ground and looked deep into the eyes. Kruznik, annoyed by the attempt to act tough, simply turned to the young girl.

"Akiko, bring me my zanpakuto," he said with the same calm tone.

"You got it!" the girl replied as she moved her robe and reached behind her. Akiko pilled a small black bag with a cartoonish skull laughing sewn on it with the three letters R, A, and K under it. "Here you go!" she said as she reached her whole arm in and pulled a long spear and threw at Kruznik.

Kruznik grabbed the spear and kneed Ichigo in the ribs. As Ichigo fell, Kruznik punched him in the back of the head. "Get off the floor and fight me… if you can last even ten minute with me, Redeemer will know that you're ready." Ichigo looked up at Red. He was standing with his arms crossed and an apathetic look on his face.

"Go ahead Ichigo, if you put up a good fight I'll bring her," Red responded with a smile. Ichigo stood up quickly and swung with Zangetsu. Kruznik jumped back and threw his spear. Ichigo tried to block it with Zangetsu but the force was too strong.

Ichigo was pushed back a few feet and stopped. The spear fell to the floor. Ichigo took a quick look at the spear. The handle was all white while the spearhead on top and the smaller spearhead on bottom were deep blue with light blue markings. The main spearhead itself was in the shape of a large cross while the bottom was a crescent moon.

As Ichigo looked up to continue that fight, Kruznik was already in front of Ichigo. "Too slow, Shinigami." Kruznik punch him in the face and kneed him in the chest. Before Ichigo had enough time to fall, Kruznik grabbed his head and picked him up.

"Is that all you have, you worthless shell of a man. If that's all, die here and now and maybe you can turn into a descent hollow after I devour you." Kruznik said as he looked into Ichigo's eyes. "I am more merciful than Arrgosax is… he would have torn you apart as soon as the fight started… pathetic, you would have never saved Neliel."

Kruznik threw Ichigo aside and pick up his spear and walked away. As he did this, Ichigo looked up at Red as he lay on the floor.

Red bent over and said, "If you don't use the help of your friends Ichigo you will die here…" he whispered in Ichigo's ear, "and I'll be the one to make sure of it, now fight." Ichigo forced himself up and turned away from Red and faced Kruznik's back as he walked away.

Ichigo grabbed the handle of the top zanpakuto on his waist. "Howl! Zabimaru!" Ichigo drew Zabimaru and extended with lighting speed. Kruznik turned around and stabbed Zabimaru into the ground with his spear.

"What was that? A meager attempt to strike me down while I had my back turned. Fool, I'll teach you to fight with honor." Kruznik let go of his spear and ran toward Ichigo. Ichigo reached for Zangetsu on the floor, but as soon he had it in his hands Kruznik was already in front of Ichigo and ready to kick him in the head.

As Kruznik released his kick, Ichigo yelled, "_Santen Kesshun,_ I reject!" The red light shield blocked the massive kick that cracked the shield greatly. "_Getsuga Tensho_" Ichigo proclaimed as he preformed a rising slash with Zangetsu.

Kruznik, who did not expect the attack, took the entire wave. The wave ripped Kruznik's robe and his white shirt as it threw him into the air and forced him to crash into the floor. At first nothing happened. Red and Akiko look in awe to see that Ichigo actually hit Kruznik.

Ichigo stood short of breath and shaking slightly. "Di…did I get him?" he asked himself. As the dust settled, Ichigo started to walk toward the small crater. Suddenly, Kruznik appear out of nowhere and picked up Ichigo by the throat.

"Do you think you won so easily!? Never let your guard down until you know your opponent is a dead!" Kruznik screamed as he tightens his grip on Ichigo throat. Ichigo vision became fuzzy as he looked down to see Kruznik.

His mask remnants were on his forehead and left cheek. His forehead remnant was a triangle that covered most of his forehead and split into two streaks that continued to the back of his head. On those streaks, were two small horns on top of his head pointing back. The remnant on his cheek was a simple plate from his eye to his jaw, with two tear-like stream markings.

"That's enough Kruznik your going to kill him," Akiko said. As she said this Kruznik drop Ichigo. "I wanna go home and see Nell."

"Very well, I bid you goodnight. Let us hope you learn your lesson, for if we shall ever meet in combat again… I won't hold back so much. I will see you later, Redeemer…" Kruznik said as he turned away and started to walk.

"Bye-bye, Ichigo! I'll tell Nell you miss her!" Akiko said as she waved goodbye to Ichigo. She ran and pick up the spear and put it back into the small black bag. She ran to Kruznik turned around to wave goodbye one more time before she took Kruznik's hand and walked along side him.

Ichigo rolled over to lie on his back and stare that the starless night. "You know you got your ass kick, right?" Red commented as he seemed to appear out of thin air and sat next to Ichigo.

"Shut up."

"Hey, I'm just saying what happened, HAHAHA!!!"

"So I guess I have to get stronger if I want to see Nell… right?"

"I guess, if you want to. But remember that Kruznik you had to last ten minutes…"

"Yeah…"

"Well I didn't say that, I said if you put up a good fight I'll bring her. You're lucky; Kruznik held back and underestimated you. That _Getsuga Tensho _you did really impressed me."

"Wait! Does that mean you'll bring…" Ichigo started before he had to stop and cough up blood.

"Yeah, Ichigo. I'll bring her tomorrow, for right now sleep." Red stood up and walked away.

"Wait… can I ask you a question?"

"Ok, but only one, Ichigo"

"Why did he call you Redeemer? I thought you told me your name was Red."

"My name is the Redeemer, but I don't like it when people say Redeemer over and over again. So I thought it would be easier if people would just call me Red for short. Kruznik is a formal guy, so he still calls me Redeemer. Everyone just calls me Red though. Now sleep Ichigo…" Red said as he disappeared into the dust blowing in the wind. Ichigo turned and stared up at the moon and slowly closed his eyes and drifted into the first peaceful sleep he had in ages.

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Hope you liked this chapter. Review and Comment, oh and I'm happy to answer any questions.


	3. Ch3: The Family

Here's Chapter 3.

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"Hey!...Hey, Ichigo wake up!" Ichigo opened his eyes and to a bright lit room. Ichigo, dazed by the sudden light, looked around as he sat up. He realized he was sitting on his bed in his room. "Hey, Ichigo if you don't hurry, I'm going to leave for school without you."

Ichigo turned to see who was speaking. He soon realized who was talking. It was Rukia. She was standing in the middle of his room in her school uniform with arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face.

"Come on, hurry and get dressed. I'm not going to be late for school because of you ag…" Ichigo hugged her in the middle of her sentence. "Ichigo, let go of me! Why are you hugging me!? You stink, take a shower first!"

"I… I can't believe you're ok, Rukia." Ichigo said with tears in his eyes, "I thought I would never see you again."

"Of course I'm ok. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought you were dead…"

"Why would you think that?" Rukia said as she hugged Ichigo to comfort him.

"During the War… I thought you…."

"Ichigo… you thought I died. Did you see me die?"

"No…"

"Did you see Renji die?"

"No…"

"Did you see Chad or Orihime or Uryu die?"

"No… I didn't…"

"Ichigo… did you die?"

"What?"

"Did you die?"Rukia voice echoed as it got softer and quieter. Suddenly Ichigo began to fall into a dark abyss. As Ichigo fell further and further from the light he saw a figure above him stand in the light, he couldn't see it clearly.

Ichigo tried to focus his vision see the figure but nothing help. Before the figure and the light faded completely it said, "Ichigo… did we die?"

--

"AHHHH!" Ichigo screamed as he sat up for the ground. He was sweating and breathing heavy. He looked around to see that he was back in Hueco Mundo. As he stood up he realized Red was on the floor with one of his arms blocking his face, which had a terrified look on it. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with ME!? What's wrong with YOU!?" Red responded while pointing a finger to Ichigo, "I come here to wake you up and just as I was about to do so, you jump up like a crazy zombie back from the dead, and scare that living shit out of me! I think I did crap myself a little! That was so scary. Holy shit! What happen? Did you have a nightmare or something!? "

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." Ichigo answered as he helped Red off the floor.

"Well, if that's how you wake up ever morning I'd hate to be your roommate."

"Shut up!" Ichigo said with a slight smile. His smile went away almost in instantly as he remembered something and looked at Red with a serious expiration on his face. "Where is Nell?"

"Oh, yeah now I remember. She said she was going on a mission with Kruznik and the others. She told me to bring you to the camp where we hang out, and wait for her there." Red started to walk away from Ichigo before he had time to respond.

--

Red and Ichigo walked for some time without ever speaking a word to each other. Red continued to lead the way while having his fingers interlocked and on the back of his head. Ichigo, getting impatient, started to walk faster to walk next to Red.

"How much longer until we get to the camp?"

"What? We were supposed to walk to the camp!? I thought we were enjoying the scenery."

"WHAT!? YOU SAID…"

"HAHAHA! Just messing with you Ichigo! God, you're too serous. Look, we're here." Red said while he pointed to a formation of large rocks. As they walked a bit closer, Ichigo noticed that there was six large rock formations, most were made for one or two rocks, that formed the circular camp.

"Yeah, it isn't much but we call it home." Ichigo turned to face Red who was lying on his side on top of one of the rocks.

"So, how long are we supposed to wait?"

"Well, they took Kruznik with them….so maybe five minutes."

"Well that isn't too long."

"But, they did take Arrgosax too. Hmmmm, I say about an hour longer."

"WHAT!? Why would it take that long to do whatever it is!?"

"Arrgosax makes things more complicated. He's pretty much an idiot."

"What are we suppose to do until then?" Ichigo asked as he looked around the camp.

"Ichigo move!" Ichigo turned to look at Red. As he turned, Red kicked him in the chest and sent him flying into one of the rocks. Ichigo sat up from the rubble.

"Why the hell did you do tha…" Ichigo started as something large crashed into the very spot he was standing in a moment ago. As the dust settled, Ichigo saw what it was that caused the huge dust cloud. It was a huge scythe.

The blade itself was about the size of Ichigo, its length equaled his height and its width equaled to the width of his shoulders, and had a huge hollow skull impaled were the handle met the blade. The handle was even longer than the blade and wasn't very thin. The handle was black and had scratches and teeth marks from tip to tip. The opposing end of the scythe had a much smaller blade that "hooked" in the other direction with the engraved words "OnLy ThE DeAd sEe ThE eNd oF wAr."

"Oi! Red! Did I get the Shinigami!?" Ichigo turned to see who was speaking. It was another Arrancar. He was thin like Red but taller with the same spiky hair. He wore a large black and open trench coat that had a large collar lift up and a white under shirt. He had large baggy parts that were torn everywhere.

His mask remnants were on both of his cheeks and on top of his head. The remnants on his cheeks were a top set of pointed teeth that connected the corner of his lips with the tip of his ear in the form of a smile. On his head, the remnants were two dog-like ears.

"No, Arrgosax. You missed, like always." Red responded with a chuckle as he walked a few feet out into the open.

"Fuck you! Prick! I didn't miss; I would have got him if you didn't kick him out of the way."

"But you still missed."

"Fuck you! Where is he? I want to see how strong he is." Ichigo walked out into the open, next to Red. "So THERE is the little bastard!"

"Yeah, and I assume that you are Arrgosax." Ichigo answered as he tightened his grip on Zangetsu.

"You got that right, fucker!" Arrgosax laughed at Ichigo. Ichigo noticed three other people walking closer behind Arrgosax. One he recognized right away as Kruznik but the other two were women he never seen before.

One of the women was dark skinned and well endowed. She possessed a large bust and wide set hips. Her hair was long and strait with a deep crimson color. She wore a tight shirt that revealed a bit too much cleavage with no sleeves. She wore the same style of pants of a Shinigami only that the slash was with replaced by a large jeweled belt. Her mask remnants were on her eyebrows that extended out to the side.

The other woman was a lighter shade of skin than the other girl, and not as curved. She was far more flat but her bosom was still noticeable. Her hair was short, due her mask remnant on her head, and covered her left eye with her bangs. Her cloths were more like armor than cloths. Her left arm was covered in armor and right shoulder was too. She wore bandages on her chest instead of a shirt and also wore tight pants that seemed to look like they were made of leather. It was difficult to tell due to the greaves she wore to cover most of her legs, from mid thigh to toe. Her remnant was a large helmet-like skull on her head. The skull was of a bird, with the beak pointing forward, with a "Mohawk" of small feathers.

"Hey, Kruznik! Where are Nell and Akiko? I thought they went with you." Red called out while waving to greet them.

"They had to stay behind. Neliel had to rest due to the lack of strength she possessed after the ritual. Akiko stayed with her to help her heal." Kruznik answered in a calm tone.

"Ok, now that we got that shit out of the way… Ichigo get ready, cuz I'm going to kick the living shit out of you!" Arrgosax proclaimed as he disappeared. Ichigo turned around to see Arrgosax behind him with one hand on the scythe.

"Bring it!" Ichigo said as readied Zangetsu.

"Better keep on toes…HAHAHA!" Arrgosax laughed as he raised the massive scythe above his head. Ichigo jumped back as the scythe crashed down will full force. The impact caused the sand to rise into the air.

Ichigo stood his ground, keeping his senses open. As Ichigo focus grew, he could sense that Arrgosax didn't move. Ichigo charged head on into the dust and struck where Arrgosax was.

"ICHIGO! YOU IDIOT!" Red yelled as Ichigo blade made contact with Arrgosax. Zangetsu cut through Arrgosax's left shoulder and continued a few to the right in a diagonal line before stopping. Ichigo looked up at Arrgosax.

Arrgosax stood with a smile as blood ran his chest. He started to cough up blood but kept the smile. "Red is right," Arrgosax said in a low tone of voice, "you are an idiot."

"Wha!?" Ichigo looked at Arrgosax with fear as he raised the same massive scythe. Ichigo tried to remove Zangetsu, but it didn't budge. The scythe fell, Ichigo jumped back and yelled, "_Santen Kesshun,_ I reject."

The scythe made contact with the light shield, scraping it with enough force to send Ichigo back a few feet. Ichigo looked at Arrgosax. He started to walk towards Ichigo with Zangetsu, still protruding out of him.

Ichigo drew Zabimaru and, without calling its name, unleashed its shikai. He swung with full force it extended towards Arrgosax. Arrgosax ran to Ichigo and pushed Zabimaru out of the way with his bare hands, cutting his palm. As he got closer, Arrgosax threw his scythe.

Ichigo rolled out of the way of the spinning scythe. As he looked up from the ground, Arrgosax was within striking distance. Without swung Zabimaru, without extending it.

Arrgosax pulled Zangetsu out of his shoulder and blocked the attack. "YOU'RE A FUCKING DUMBASS! ICHIGO!" Arrgosax roared as he pushed Ichigo back with Zangetsu.

"THIS IS A NICE SWORD, ICHIGO! HAHAHA!" Arrgosax laughed as his strikes with Zangetsu kept pushing Ichigo back. Ichigo leaped back, to create distance between them.

Arrgosax closed the small gap made by Ichigo's jump and slammed Zangetsu. Ichigo raised Zabimaru to block the attack but the force caused Ichigo to fall backwards. Arrgosax tried the same attack again, but Ichigo extended Zabimaru to cut Arrgosax's rid.

Zabimaru struck Arrgosax in the left ribs. But like Zangetsu, it got stuck in his body. "What the hell!?"

"HAHAHA! I can't believe that you actually did that again!" Arrgosax grabbed Zabimaru and pulled the blade out of his body. Ichigo looked up; Arrgosax smiled and rammed his head into Ichigo's.

Ichigo, stunned by the blow, let go of Zabimaru. Arrgosax picked up the zanpakuto and threw it away.

Ichigo clench his left fist as it glowed brightly and formed the same white armor as Chad's. "_La Muerte!_" Ichigo called as him rammed his fist into Arrgosax's stomach.

Arrgosax coughed ever more blood and said, "Is that all you got, you FUCKING BITCH!" Arrgosax threw Zangetsu away and kicked Ichigo.

Ichigo got off the ground and gripped the handle of _Sode no Shirayuki._ Arrgosax stopped walking and smiled. Ichigo drew Sode no Shirayuki slowly, but he just stood and continued to smile. Ichigo stopped drawing the sword mid-way.

"What? Are you scared to draw your sword?" Ichigo didn't respond but instead sheathed Sode no Shirayuki. "Fine, if you won't attack I will!"

Arrgosax ran towards Ichigo and threw a right punch. Ichigo blocked the attack and counted with a kicked to the wounded ribs. As the kick hit its mark, without flinching, Arrgosax grabbed Ichigo's leg and, using his right arm, elbowed his knee.

Ichigo screamed in pain as Arrgosax let go of his leg and smacked him with the back of his fist followed by a left jab to the stomach. Ichigo fought back with a combo of right and left jabs finish with an uppercut that hit Arrgosax in the chin.

Before Ichigo had a chance to take advantage, Arrgosax spat blood at Ichigo's eyes and kicked Ichigo's weakened knee. Ichigo fell to the ground and Arrgosax picked him up by the throat.

As he picked up Ichigo, he opened his mouth and gathered the energy around him into a purple ball. "CERO!!!" He yelled as he released the cero at close range. Before it could reach Ichigo, a sword appeared between him and the cero.

The sword cut the cero in half, making it disappear, and continued to move towards Arrgosax's face. The blade cut his cheek, breaking three of the teeth remnants with it.

"REDEEMER! What the fuck are you doing? I was going to…" Red pulled Ichigo from Arrgosax's grip and kicked Arrgosax in the stomach. As he flew, Arrgosax tried to stop by grabbing his scythe. Without slowing down, he crashed into the stone camp and shattered most of the large rocks.

"FUCK THIS!" Arrgosax coughed out, while being hid from view the dust. "Survive, Hombre Lobo!" Ichigo could sense the spiritual energy of Arrgosax change greatly.

"Arrgosax, no!" Red commanded as he stood in front of Ichigo.

"FUCK YOU!" Arrgosax jumped out of the dust to reveal his released form. Arrgosax turned into an albino-werewolf. He was now twice his normal size and had massive black claws and teeth.

Red pushed Ichigo back as he charged at Arrgosax. Red swung his sword but Arrgosax stopped. The blade hit Arrgosax on the chest as he laughed, "Hehe… you should know Red… my fur is like FUCKIN' ARMOR!"

Arrgosax swiped his claws and tore Red's ribs and chest open. As he fell, Ichigo was unable to move from the floor due to his knee as he watched Arrgosax run towards him.

Before Arrgosax could reach Ichigo, Kruznik appeared between them, with his spear pointing towards the charging beast. "Pray, Sacerdote Del Esoplon!"

Smoke surrounded Kruznik and Ichigo. As it settled, Ichigo could see that Kruznik was now in his released form. Kruznik's shoulders, back, and, from what Ichigo could see, Kruznik's chest was covered in armor skulls. His spear handle had turned into bone and where the blades met the handle had feathers hanging from strings and beads. Kruznik's remnants fused together as a helmet with spiked ram horns on his head.

Arrgosax was held back by Kruznik's one arm extended, he stood and said, "Arrgosax, I hope you thought long and hard about your actions because for your foolish behavior I shall strike you down if you continue this meaningless squabble."

"Grrr, Fuck you too Kruz…" before Arrgosax could finish his sentence the two girls jumped and pinned Arrgosax down on the floor. "Fuckin' whores! Get the hell off me!"

"Now Arrgosax," the girl in the armor said in a teasing voice, "why would you call me a whore? Well, I know why you would call Manami that but…"

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN, YUI!?" the Arrancar, Manami, responded quickly with a raised first aimed for the girl's head.

"Well, it was just that last night, right before I went to sleep, I saw you and Red sneak off to do God know what…" Yui said with a sly.

"Fuck you! I wanted to go on a romantic walk with Red; it's not my fault that it ended that way!"

"Oh, so it's true! I was just playing around."

"N… no I mean, it was like… um, wait let me start over!"

"Too late, you all ready said it. HAHAHA!"

"Fuck you, Yui!"

"Um, excuse me, ladies" Arrgosax said as they continued to fight while holding him down, "Do you mind… GET THE FUCK OFF ME!!!"

"Are you going to listen, Arrgosax?" Red asked as he appeared again out on thin air in front of Arrgosax. Arrgosax looked up at him to see that he was still bleeding from the ribs and chest.

"Hehe… ok Red, you win. I'll be good."

"Ok," Red said with a smile before kicking Arrgosax in the nose. "Let him up, girls." Manami and Yui got off of Arrgosax and followed Red as he casually strolled off back to the camp, ignoring his wound on his chest.

"About fuckin' time…" Arrgosax said as he got off the floor and turned back into his "shinigami" form.

"Arrgosax…"

"Uh?" Arrgosax turned to see why Kruznik called his name.

"Refrenar la Bestia!" Kruznik called as he pointed the finger at him. Arrgosax suddenly put his arms behind his back, made his wrists touch his elbows, and put his legs together.

"What the HELL! KRUZNIK! You put that stupid bind on me, didn't you! " Arrgosax yelled as he fell to the floor. Kruznik reverted back to his original form and dragged Arrgosax by the coat, as he screamed and complained, back to the camp.

"Do you need help getting to the camp?" Red asked sitting on the floor next to Ichigo.

"How did you get here?"

"That's not important. What's important is if you can walk on that knee. Can you?"

"I can't but I don't want YOU carrying me."

"Hahaha! Don't worry, I wasn't planning to. I'll get Manami to carry you. Anyways, I don't think you'll be able to see Nell today so just rest. It's getting late."

"How can you tell? It's always dark here."

"Well, it's simple… um… you see… hehe… I actually don't know. When you live here long enough you get in a habit sleeping in a center time. So just sleep, trust me." Red got up and started to walk back to camp.

"Hey Red."

"Yeah."

"Are you ok? It looked like you got hurt bad."

"You don't have to worry about me Ichigo." Red turned around to face Ichigo, who still lay on the floor, "I'll be fine. We'll talk tomorrow." Ichigo could still see that Red's wound was open and bleeding. "Sleep, Ichigo…"

Ichigo felt the fatigue of the day hit him as he thought his last waking thoughts of the only person he wanted to see in this forsaken place… Nell.

* * *

Hope you liked the Chapter. Review, Comment, and Ask Questions. Thanks for Reading.


	4. Ch4: True Colors

Here is Chapter 4.

* * *

Ichigo felt numb. He could feel something hitting his skin constantly, over and over again. As he opened his eyes to see the sky, he only saw clouds; dark ominous clouds that rained as he stared at them. Ichigo noticed, as he stared at those clouds, that they did rain down on him, but the rain hit his face as he stood. The clouds did float in the air but Ichigo did not stand on the ground. Ichigo looked to see that the world around him was on it side.

He heard a voice, "Did we die, Ichigo?"

--

Ichigo sat up on the stone tablet he lied on. "Was that only a dream? No, that was real. Then who said…"

"Yo! Ichigo you're awake!" Ichigo turned to see Red waving his arms with a ridiculous smile on his face. Red ran down a sand dune before he fell and rolled the last half. "I'm ok, everybody!" he called as he got off the floor, covered in sand.

"What an idiot," Ichigo thought as he tried to stand. As he did, Ichigo fell to the floor, still feeling a pain in his knee. "Damn it, why does it still hurt!"

"Ichigo, you shouldn't walk until Akiko takes a look at that knee." Red ran to help Ichigo back on the tablet, "I thought it would have been best if we stayed here till you got better. Looks like I was right."

"This is nothing I had worse." Ichigo comment, "Besides that, are you ok? That hit you took from Arrgosax looked bad."

"Naw! That hit was nothing I had worse. HAHAHA!" Ichigo looked at Red's chest as he laughed and saw that the only sign that Red was hit was his torn shirt. There was nothing else; no wound, no bandage, no scar, nothing.

"At least you didn't break your leg." Red said breaking Ichigo's train of thought.

"Yeah, that damn Arrgosax frights like... Wait! Where's Arrgosax? And Kruznik? And those two other girls with them?"

"Well, Kruznik didn't want to wait for you to wake up, so he left. Arrgosax got bored you he went with Kruznik and the girls..."

"REDEEMER!!!" Ichigo turned his head to the direction of the sound. Ichigo looked at the sand dune, which Red came from; to see if anyone would be there.

Red sat on the floor a few feet from Ichigo and answered in a lazy tone, "What do you want!"

"REDEEMER! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Nnnnnnno! I don't think I want to!" He answered again with the same tone.

"GET OVER HERE! NOW!" Ichigo stared at Red to see his reaction to the demand. He didn't move. Instead, Red sat there with his eyes closed with both legs and arms crossed. Ichigo could hear a light hum coming from Red, almost like he was meditating.

"Hey, Red! You better get your girl; she's acting like a baby." Ichigo turned and saw one of the Arrancar girls, the one with armor. She was walking down the dune with a slow pace taking her time with her stroll. "I'm not responsible for that girl."

"But SHE is your friend. Go help her, Yui." Red responded.

"But SHE is your girlfriend. So, you go help her."

"I don't want to. She's mad at me."

"So, this would a good time to make it up to her and help her, don't you think so?" Red opened his eyes. Realizing that Yui was right, he ran toward the sand dune.

"I'm coming Manami! Yui, watch Ichigo!" Red called out as he ran up the dune and passed Yui.

"Yeah, yeah." Yui responded as she walked toward Ichigo. She stopped walking a few feet from Ichigo. She was closer to Ichigo than Red was and for a long period of time, Yui stood and stared at Ichigo. Ichigo began to feel uneasy as she stared at him with dark cold eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that." Ichigo said as he scooted back. She lead forward getting closer. "Stop looking at me like that!" Ichigo repeated as he moved back as far as he could, without falling off the stone tablet. Yui leaded even closer, her face inches in front of Ichigo's. "Stop getting so close and get..."

"BOO!" Yui screamed in his face. Ichigo, startled by the yell, fell off the tablet and screamed. "Hahaha! You are too easy to scare, you know that. Man, not even Red falls for that!"

"Sh...Shut up! What do you expect from me!?"

"I expected for you to be a man and not get scared. Hahaha!" Yui jumped and sat on the stone bed Ichigo was laying on. "So, other than you being easy to scared, tell me about yourself."

"Why should I?" Ichigo answered rudely. He turned away so his back was to Yui.

"Hey! Why are you being mean, all of a sudden? I just wanted to know a little bit about you. Red is always gone and when he is here he doesn't talk about you much. What's your favorite food? What's your favorite color? Why are you here? Do you prefer..."

"I'm here to get my friend and kill every hollow and Arrancar I can find... I'm not here to make friends or to talk to you. That why I'm here."

"Wow. So, you must really like your friends a lot." Ichigo said nothing. "Is that that why you carry this medallion with you." Ichigo's eyes widen as he turned around and saw Yui swinging Chad's medallion.

"Give that back NOW!" Ichigo demanded as he stood.

"Wow, you can stand. But, why would I do that? Ichigo." Yui teased.

"I'm not playing around give that back NOW!"

"No. Just try and take it from me." Yui smiled. Ichigo lunged himself as fast as he could to get the medallion, but Yui simply pushed Ichigo's hand to the right to send him rolling. "Hahaha! Is that all? You really suck, you know that right?"

Ichigo stood again and reached back for Zangetsu. He then realized he did have Zangetsu, Zabimaru, or any other weapons. "Where are my zanpakutos!?" Ichigo demanded to know.

"Well, last I saw, Red and Arrgosax took them from you so you can sleep better."

"Where are they now?"

"I don't know, hehe." Yui giggled as she kept spinning the medallion. Ichigo became more and more irritated as the girl laughed and teased him. "Come on, Iiiiiiichigo. Try again."

Ichigo clenched his right fist and formed red and black armor around his arm. He then stepped forward as he punched to send a massive energy blast toward the girl. The blast crashed through the rock encampment and destroyed everything in its path. The blast continued for some time become disappearing the dark sky.

Ichigo stumbled to the ruins due to the amount of energy put into that single blast as well as the pain he could feel coming from his leg. "Wow, so you do have some power!" Ichigo turned his head to see who spoke but was met with a shin to the face. Ichigo flew several feet before hitting the ground.

"Wha? How did you?" Ichigo saw that the person who hit him and spoke was Yui. Yui, still spinning the medallion, looked undamaged in anyway and had a smile on her face.

"Did you think an attack that slow could hit me. Hahaha!" Yui laughed as she ran kick Ichigo in the injured knee. Ichigo screamed in pain. "You should be glad Red is in charge of this group and not Arrgosax. If we had it his way you'd be DEAD!" Yui stomped on Ichigo's knee over and over again. "I don't know why he even thinks of keeping you or that stupid bitch Nell around! You both should DIE!"

Before Yui could deal a final blow to sever Ichigo's limb at the joint, a shadow appeared over them. "Who the fuck would be dumb enough to..." Yui stopped in mid sentence as she turned her head to see none other then Red.

Red stood strait. A strange poster compared to his normal slouch and his eyes looking at the floor. His face had a serious malice to it. Ichigo noticed Yui started to shake and had trouble standing upright. "R...R...Red, what's g...going on?" Yui stuttered. Red did not change his expression as he held out his right hand. "Oh, th...the medallion, right. Umm h...here you go." Yui handed Chad's medallion with a trembling hand.

As Red took the medallion and exammed it shortly before clenching his hand around it. Red pulled his hand back for a moment before he released it, smacking Yui across the face with the back of the clenched fist. Yui was sent flying a couple of feet as Red slowly walked passed Ichigo and towards her.

"Hey, Red what the hell do you think you're..."

"Shut up, Ichigo. Manami, look after him." Red interrupted as he threw the medallion at Ichigo. Manami, who stood a few feet back, rushed over to Ichigo and carried him a few feet back.

"Please, Ichigo." Manami whispered as she kneeled down and placed Ichigo on the floor, "Don't look, and don't interfere. She brought this on herself." Ichigo could see tears fall as the girl said this looking down. Ichigo's arm returned normal so he could comfort the girl with a light hug. He looked up and saw Red standing over Yui as she tried crawled away.

"What's wrong, Yui." Red said as her kicked her in the ribs. Yui rolled a couple of times before stopping. "Don't you think this is FUN!" He kicked her again, this time in the face. Yui started to spit blood and cry. Red crouched down. Looking at her up-close, he reached for the girl's throat and picked her up. "So, you are Arrgosax's whore. Doing what he wants, when he wants it, where he wants it. I'll show you want happens to people who don't follow my orders."

Red slammed the girls head into the ground. Not letting go, he picked her up again and slammed her into the ground repeat. "I got to stop this." Ichigo says as he tried to stand.

"No Ichigo! Please don't get involved. Red will hurt her more if you or she fights back, please." Manami begged as she grabbed his leg.

"I can't let him do this. No one deserves this." Ichigo took Manami hand off of his leg and stumbled toward Red and Yui.

Red stopped slamming Yui into the ground and let her go. Yui struggled to breathe as she bled for the back of her cracked head. Red crouched down and grabbed her hand. He showed her hand with her palm open. "So, this the hand used to twirl that little medallion. I bet you thought that was pretty funny. Teasing little Ichigo with something so precious to him. Well I'll make sure that you remember how funny it was."

Red grabbed her index finger and bent it so it would crack. "AHHHHH! YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" Yui cried out in her screamed. Red grabbed her next finger and broke that one too. "AHHHHH!" Yui cried over and over as Red broke all the fingers in her right hand.

"Shhhhh... Its going to be ok, Yui." Red said in a soothing voice, "We're done. We're done." Yui cries became whimpers. "We're done, Yui. No more pain... in that hand at least."

Yui screamed as he reached for her other hand. As she struggled to fight back, Red punched her in the forehead making her hit her exposed head hit the floor. "Now THAT had to hurt, hehe." Red chuckled as Yui became dazed and light headed. His smile went away as he continued his punishment.

Red grabbed Yui's left hand and just like before showed it to her. Red wrapped his other hand around her finger and smiled. He slowing began to bend it to the side, slower and slower every second to make sure she felt the pain. Yui could no longer scream, her voice had left her. She could only open her mouth in pain but no sounds of pain fled. She only cried as the pain overwhelmed her.

Just as the final second came before her finger snapped, a hand grabbed Red's shoulder causing him to stop. He turned and saw Ichigo. "Oh, it's you! What's up, Ichigo?" Red said in a cheerful tone and stood up. Ichigo said nothing as he punched him in the face. Red, in shock, fell back and put his hand on his nose. "What the hell was that for, Ichigo? I thought we were friends."

"Don't give me that SHIT! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!"

Red looked over at Yui for a moment before standing up and responding, "What? Do you mean what I did to the disobedient whore?"

"Don't call her that she has a name!"

"I know and its whore." Ichigo punched Red again. Red stumbled back but didn't fall. "Oh, I see now. Hehe. Nell was right... you are caring. But a little too caring... if you ask me." Red returned to his slouch and put his hands in his pockets. "I'm leaving. Tell Manami to take you to the Stone. She'll know what I'm talking about. The whore is your problem now, next time I won't help you when she is trying to break your leg. Bye." Red turned away and started to walk away.

Ichigo turned around as soon as Red looked a safe distance away. Manami was sitting next to Yui and popping her fingers back into place. "Ok, Yui. Just two more fingers, you're doing great." Manami said in a caring tone. The tear marks still visible on her face.

Ichigo kneed next to Manami. When Manami popped the last finger into place Ichigo said, "We have to stop the blood coming from her head. Here, turn her head slightly I need to see how bad it is." Ichigo exammed Yui's head. "Ok, it's not as bad as it could have been but it's still pretty bad."

"Can you help her, please." Manami begged.

"Yeah but I need... that." Ichigo pointed at the Orihime's hair pin that Manami was wearing.

"Oh...I so sorry! Please! Please don't be mad Ichigo, I didn't know were to put them, and I had to carry your stuff and I..." She hysterically ranted on.

"It's ok just them back."

"Y...Yes, here."

"Thank you," Ichigo said in the nicest voice he could say to help the girl calm down. He took a deep breath. "_Sōten Kisshun_, I reject." A large oval of energy surrounded Yui and began to heal her.

"I didn't know you could do that!"

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me..." Ichigo responded. There was only silence as Ichigo tried his best to heal Yui. Manami sat with a concerned look in her eyes. After several minutes, Ichigo was about done when he broke the silence. "Hey, Manami...was it?"

"Yeah"

"Why did you tell me not to interfere when Red did this?"

"Um...well..."

"Did this happen before?"

"Yes..." she whispered quietly, "he done this before. Ever time it gets worse and worse."

"So, why do you stay?"

"Hehe. It's funny. I bet after seeing what he can do, would you believe he saved Yui's and my life before?"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo was surprised as he wasn't expecting that response.

"Well, when Yui and me first took off our masks and became Arrancars, we were very weak. We tried to find a place to regain our strength, but a group of hollows found us first. I thought we were going to be eaten' alive," Manami said with a slight chuckle, "But like a knight in shining armor, he came out of the blue and saved us both. He said if we stayed with him, he would protect us."

"So you stayed with him. But you're strong enough to leave him now, right?"

"Yeah, but I...I don't what to leave him. I fell in love with him at first sight." Ichigo saw Manami's face start to lighten up as she seemed to recall memories. "Yui used to like him too. But after she met his brother, Arrgosax, she seemed to forget about him."

"What about that other girl? The small one, what's her story?"Ichigo asked as he finished healing Yui and started to heal his knee.

"Who, Akiko? Well, she was here before me or Yui. From what Red told us, Akiko was found just like us but Kruznik saved her. He also made that little bag she carries too. It's like a mini black hole that she uses for storage or something. Anyway, Akiko isn't close to anyone but Kruznik but she is very nice. She really likes Nell too..." Manami stood up and signed.

"Manami, can you take me to see Nell?" Ichigo asked with a serious tone. "Red said that he was going to the "Stone," whatever that is."

"Yeah, I'll take you. It's the least I can do. Oh wait!" Manami yelled "I'll be right back!" Ichigo smiled slightly as he saw Manami running towards the old campground. He was glad to see that she wasn't crying anymore. He hated to people in pain and she reminded him of Orihime.

After a few minutes, Manami came back with something behind her back. "Ichigo, I think these are yours." She handed Ichigo all of his missing equipment.

"Thanks," Ichigo put Zabimaru and Sode no Shirayuki on his waist. Then he took the hairpins in his hands and put them on the small Quincy cape on his shoulder.

"Hey, Ichigo..." Manami said while looking down. She looked like a child who knew she did sometime bad.

"Yeah?"

"I...I took something else besides the hair piece, I sorry." Manami held out her hand and gave Ichigo a ring. The ring was silver and had a Quincy Cross on it.

Ichigo said nothing as he snatched the ring form her hand. He put on the ring and held Zangetsu in his hand. "Now take me to Nell. I'll carry Yui." Ichigo picked up Yui, he placed Yui on his back to give her a piggy-back ride will keeping her up by using Zangetsu. Manami started to walk and Ichigo followed her.

Ichigo looked strait with determination in his as he repeated in his head, "I'm coming Nell...I'm coming..."

* * *

Well, that's the end. Not much fighting in this chapter but the next one will make up for the lack in this one. You got a little bit of fighting, a torture scene, and a little bit of history in this chapter. I think the next one will be coming sooner then the rest and might explain more. Nell will be in the next chapter for sure. WHOO, YAY!


	5. Ch5: Wakening

Chapter 5

* * *

Ichigo continued to walk without saying a word. The entire time, Manami never turned around and just kept leading the way. Yui still seemed to be asleep on Ichigo's back and didn't move. The sound of the wind howling was the only thing that could be heard.

This continued for the four hours they were walking. Ichigo noticed that Manami started to slow down, or he started to walk faster, because the gap between them was getting smaller. Eventually, Ichigo and Manami were walking side by side.

Ichigo glanced at the girl's face. She had a melancholy expression as she stared that the floor she walked on. Ichigo tried his best not to stare at the girl, but something about her seemed to get his attention.

"What are you looking at?" Manami asked.

"Uh…" Ichigo wasn't expecting the question and was caught off guard.

"What? Do I have something on my face? Is it dirt? Or is a bug!? TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME!" Manami began to freak out as she tried her best to get what ever it was off her face.

"No, no it was nothing. I was just…"

"He was just staring at you 'cuz he's a pervert who likes to stare at girls." Yui commented.

"WHAT!? How long have you been awake!? AND I'M NOT A PERVERT!" Ichigo dropped the girl on his back and turned to her. "When were going to tell me you were awake!?"

Yui stood and dusted herself off before answering; "Now why would I do something like that when I can get a free ride?"

Ichigo didn't response. He simply turned around and started to walk away. "Hey! HEY! Don't you walk away from me! ICHIGO!" Yui yelled as she started to walk forwards, "I'm talkin' to you, asshole!" Yui walked right behind Ichigo before punching him in the back of the head.

Ichigo stopped walking. "Are you going to listen to me now!?" Yui asked with a smile. Suddenly, in one quick and fluent move, Ichigo turned around, put his leg behind Yui's and hit her in the forehead causing her to fall over. As soon as she hit the floor, Ichigo grabbed her throat.

"Listen to me… I don't care about to you. To me, you're nothing but a hollow! I didn't want to leave you because it didn't seem right to leave an injured girl alone in the sand! Now shut up and leave me alone! If you bother me one more time, I'll rip that 'helmet' off your scalp and put it on a pike as a warning to others. You got that!"

Yui gulped and nodded. Ichigo let the girl go and began to walk away again. Manami walked over to help Yui up.

"Manami."

"Y…Yes, Ichigo."

"Lead the way."

"Ok." After helping Yui up, Manami walked ahead of Ichigo and continued to lead the way. Once again, all three of them became silent. This silence only lasted for a brief five minutes.

"Maaaaanaaaaami!" Yui wined.

"What is it now, Yui?" Manami answered.

"How much longer? Didn't it take only about half an hour to get to the Stone?"

"It does take about half an hour to get there but that's if you use shunpo. But since Ichigo had to carry you and you were pretending to be asleep, we had to walk. And it takes much longer to get there walking."

"But I'm walking now so why don't we use shunpo to get there?"

Manami chuckled, "You suck at remembering directions. We're already here." As Manami said that she stopped on top of the small sand dune she was walking up and turned to face Ichigo and Yui.

As Ichigo reached the top, he looked down into a massive crater, in which the sand dune they stood on made the rim. At the center of the crater was a small rock city and at the center of that city was a large circular platform. The city had a walled boarder and what looked like only one large entrance.

"We better hurry, Ichigo." Manami said as she pointed toward the city, "They're waiting." Ichigo looked down at the city and saw Red standing just outside the border.

Ichigo started to walk down the dune and was shortly followed by the girls. As they got closer to Red, Ichigo noticed that he wasn't alone. Standing next to the entrance was Kruznik and next to him was Akiko. On top of the door, Arrgosax was lying on his side and was supporting his head up with one arm.

Ichigo also noticed that Arrgosax seemed to be asleep; due to the fact that he had his mouth opened and was drooling. When Ichigo got off the downward slope of the crater and walked on the flat base, Red started to look around on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked as he finally got close to him.

"I'm… just… looking… for… YES!" Red cheered quietly as he pick up something form the sand and clenched his fist. "Watch this." Red smile as he turned around and stretched his arm backwards with the clenched first. Suddenly, with blinding speed, Red released his arm and threw something.

The object flew through the air and smacked Arrgosax in the middle of the forehead. "Wha… who the fuck…" Arrgosax immediately jumped up and tried to look around. But just waking up, Arrgosax didn't know where he was and lost his footing.

Arrgosax fell off the tall stone door and crashed to the floor. Red and Akiko bust into laughter at the scene.

"Arrgosax! Are you ok!?" Yui ran, past Ichigo and Red, toward her beloved.

"YOU FUCKIN' ASSHOLE, RED!" Arrgosax roared as he ran to said person.

"Hey, you can't get mad at me for waking you up when you told me to." Red calmly answered as he looked up at the taller man who stood before him.

"FUCK YOU! YOU KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I MET! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU THROW THE FUCKIN' ROCK!"

"You didn't tell me how to wake you up and I did feel like climbing that door. Oh, on a side note, you might want to brush up on you linguistic skills and further you vocabulary. I'm starting to feel ashamed to call you my kin if your only intellectual thoughts consist of sex, fighting, and the word 'fuck.'"

Arrgosax stood in silence for a brief moment before answering… "FUCK YOU, YOU FUNKIN'FAGGET!"

"Nice." Red relied as he turned around and faced Ichigo once more, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Follow me." Red walked towards the door and pushed the large stone doors open with ease.

"Red," Ichigo said before continuing thought the doors, "we need to talk."

"Everyone! Go to the Stone… I'll be there in a while." Red ordered as he directed them with his hand. Everyone walked away and left behind only Red and Ichigo. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"First, I want to talk about what you did to Yui."

"Nnnnnnnnnno," Red turned around, "There is nothing to talk about. What I did to the whore was nothing of importance."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT TO HER!"

"Listen Ichigo, I did what I did because I was protecting you."

"What do you mean?"

"Arrgosax told Yui to make sure you wouldn't be able to walk. He wanted to you to be weak when the ritual was complete."

"What ritual?"

"That's the reason why we are here, Ichigo. But what is more important is that you have all your strength now. I had to do something to make sure she or Arrgosax didn't try anything else; I had to keep them in check."

"I still don't like what you did. Wasn't there any other…"

"You don't have to like it. I just have to do what it takes to get my message across. Now anything else you want to talk about."

"Yeah, what is this place exactly?"

"Not important," Red replied as he turned around and start to walk away, "now if you're done. Let's go."

"Red!" Red stopped walking, "Take me to see Nell…now!" Ichigo demanded.

Red sighed, "Alright I'll take you to see her… follow me." Red began to lead Ichigo on a long walk through the stone city with many twist and turns. Ichigo saw that the city wasn't a city at all; the "buildings" were nothing more than large stone tables with incantations written on every one of them.

As Red turned one corner he said, "There she is." As Ichigo turned the corner he saw her. Nell was in her adult form and was sitting on top of one of the stones reading a book. To Ichigo, she seemed like an angel with a ray of light shining down on her from the heavens. She wore cloths similar to the ones she wore as an Espada; the only difference was that her long sleeves had been torn off. Ichigo felt weak; all the time he had spent alone and all the time he felt pain... it was all gone.

"N… Nell"

"Ichigo!" Nell was shock to see him. She jumped off the rock and ran towards Ichigo. She stopped a few feet in front of him and asked, "Is it really you?"

"Yes." Ichigo answered quietly as he reached out and hugged Nell.

Red smiled as he walked away and said, "I'll be back."

Nell began to cry as she sobbed, "What are you doing here?"

"I…I came here to get you…I missed you."

"I missed you too… I didn't know what happened to you… when I found Orhime and the other, I didn't think… don't ever disappear like that again."

"I'm sorry," Ichigo held her tighter as he tried to remember the last time he saw her or his friends. All his memories he had during and after the war were hazy. All that he could remember was the smell of blood and someone crying out a name over and over again.

Ichigo's earliest memory was of him sitting in the sands covered in blood and counting in his head. He remembered counting in seconds and saying every other minute he would say that they died that long ago. He remembered "they" were his friends, but he didn't remember how they died.

"Ichigo," Nell stopped crying and asked, "How did you find me?"

"What do you mean? Red found me. He told me that I couldn't see you until he said I was ready."

"He never told me he found you."

Ichigo placed his hands on her shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said, "He said you told him not to bring me until I was ready."

"I didn't know you were alive, Ichigo."

"Sorry to bother you love birds but I need your help, Ichigo." Red called out as he walked up a path. "Come on, you'll she her later. Follow me, please." Red turned around and walked down same path he came from.

"Ichigo," Nell said as she grabbed his sleeve, "What did Red tell you about this place?"

"Not much, why?"

"I don't know, but I'm worried. I don't trust Red, I never did. From what I've read form these books left here, this place is suppose to be a tomb. Has he told you anything?"

"No… but I'm going to find out." Ichigo grabbed Nell's hand, "And I'll always protect you, no matter what."

Nell smiled. Ichigo led Nell down the path Red took. When Ichigo and Nell reach the end of the path, it lead them to a large open area in front of, what looked like, the massive platform he saw from the rim of the crater.

Three wide flights of stairs, each with about fifteen steps, were built into the front of the structure. "You comin'?" Red called with a smile as he stood on top of the first flight of stairs "Meet me on top, ok!"

Red turned around and ran up the steps. Ichigo and Nell followed him up the stair. After each flight of stairs there was a large flat area that led to the next flight. Once they reached the top, Ichigo and Nell saw that everyone was already there.

The top of the structure, the floor had strange symbols written on the floor at looked similar to the rocks in the city. The floor also had a large golden ring in the center of the platform which had three large pedestals on its border to form a triangle. Red smiled.

"Alright! Alright! People listen up! Let's do this!" Red yelled as he clapped his hands, "Akiko, Manami, whore…"

"Fuck you, Red!" Yui interrupted.

"I love you too whore. Ok, you girls are in charge in finding an old friend," Red handed Manami an object rapped in a white cloth so it as hidden from view, "Use this to find him. You know what to do, right?"

"Yes sir." All three said in unison before turning around and disappearing.

"Arrgosax, Kruznik…. Get to your places." Red ordered. Arrgosax and Kruznik each jumped on one of the three large pedestals.

"Wait! Red, what's going on? What are you doing?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, sorry Ichigo. I forgot to tell you. Come here with me I need to talk with you."

Red put his arm around Ichigo's shoulders and dragged him away form Nell. "Ichigo, I need your help. You see, I need to activate these ruins and your going to help me."

"Why should I do that?"

"Well, in order for me to bring back you friends, I need this thing to work. It's easy, all you have to do is just stab Zangetsu in that little pedestal just in front of the last flight of steps. Then just pour as much energy as you got into it when I say so."

"This ruins, what are they?"

"That's not important…"

"Is this a tomb?" Ichigo interrupted.

Red stood for a moment before he said, "Yeah… but don't worry. Nothing bad will happen to you or Nell… I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me Ichigo."

Ichigo thought for a moment before nodding. Red point to the small pedestal a few feet form the base of the last stairs. "Just stab Zangetsu right into there and pour all your energy into it when I say so, ok."

Ichigo said nothing as he jumped the flight of stairs and stabbed Zangetsu into the stone. "Nell, get behind me." Nell walked behind Ichigo and watch Red jumped on the last free pedestal.

"Alright the ritual brings…NOW!" Red yelled as he took off her robe and threw it away.

A gust of wind blew form the ring as it began to glow. Red raised his sword above his head. Arrgosax and Kruznik raised their own weapons above their heads. All three Arrancars began to chant in unison:

"My Honored Brethren,

We Come Together,

To Unite As One,

Against Those That Are Damned,

We Show No Mercy,

For We Have None,

Our Enemies Shall Fall,

As We Up Rise,

To Calm Our Fate,

Now And Forever,

We'll Be Together,

We Love And Hate,"

"NOW ICHIGO!" Ichigo pour all of his spiritual energy into his sword and the energy flowed into the stone. The entire platform glowed as Red began to laugh. "ITS WORKING! NOW! LET'S FINISH THIS! PUNCTURE, PUERCO ESPIN!" Red exclaimed as he stabbed his sword into the pedestal he stood on.

"SURVIVE, HOMBRE LOBO!" Arrgosax roared as he slammed the scythe into his pedestal.

"PRAY, SACERDOTE DEL ESOPLON!" Kruznik yelled as he impaled his pedestal with his spear.

A large shock wave of energy blinded Ichigo just before he and everything else was sent flying. The sky cried in pain as energy rose from the ground into the sky. The winds roared and howled. Ichigo looked up at the sky from the floor and saw the energy connect the sky and ground.

The night sky was no more as the light that radiated form the energy as too much. Ichigo saw the light open and form massive wings in the middle of the sky. The floor rumbled as Ichigo tried to stand.

Suddenly, just as quickly as it started, it ended. Ichigo's vision was burled as stood up. He wasn't thrown very far, he thought as he looked around. Ichigo saw Nell on the floor, lying next to the steps. "Are you ok, Nell?"

"Y…Yeah. What happened?"

"I'll go check, stay here." Ichigo was still dizzy but he managed to make his way up the stairs and make his way to his zanpakuto. Ichigo held himself steady with Zangetsu as he noticed someone standing in the middle of all the pedestals.

"This world reeks with the stench of weakness. How long have I been asleep, four maybe five years. My kingdom sure as gone to shit." Ichigo look up at the man who stood there.

At first glance Ichigo thought it was Red but then realize it wasn't him. The man look very similar to Red. He was a light-brown skinned man with dark brown spiky hair. But unlike Red, the man was slightly thicker. He closer to Kruznik build than anyone else.

"Ichigo, who is at?" Ichigo turned around and saw Nell walk up the last few steps. Ichigo then felt someone release a large amount of spiritual energy. Nell fell to the floor instantly.

"NELL!" Ichigo called to her.

"Man, it feels good to release a little pint up energy. Sorry about the whole light show thing." Ichigo turned around and looked at the man again.

The "man" was really an Arrancar, Ichigo noticed the mask fragments. The fragments were also very similar to Red's. The remnants were on his chin and jaw line like Red but the remnant on his hair line were different. The remnants were only two spikes, one on each side, but they much thicker and longer. They also bent at an angle so they looked like part of his hair style.

The Arrancar wore a large white coat like Arrgosax only that this coat was much more torn than Arrgosax's. His shirt, underneath the coat, was white with a picture of a skull with no lower jaw that covered his entire chest and his pants were torn and baggy. On his waist was a large belt with many skulls and a zanpakuto. Ichigo couldn't see the sheath or how long the blade was, due to the coat covering it, but it had a long handle. The guard was large and square and the rim had teeth all around with four long fangs on the corners. The teeth on the rim pointed in the direction of the blade but the large fangs toward the handle and hilt. The most interesting item of clothing was on the Arrancar's wrist. He wore large metal gauntlets at seemed to have locked his hands together.

"Ok! Let's get these things off!" The Arrancar said as he jumped backward on the pedestal Red stood on. Ichigo saw that Red's sword was still stuck in the pedestal along with Arrgosax and Kruznik's weapons in their pedestals, as the Arrancar hit his gauntlets on the sword to break them. "Wow… That was easier than I thought. Well, I guess now I have to thank you, Ichigo, for freeing me."

Ichigo looked at the Arrancar hop off the pedestal and walk toward Ichigo. Ichigo stared that the Arrancar and ask, "Who are you?..."

* * *

Hoped you enjoyed it!


	6. Ch6: The True Antagonist

Chapter 6

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"My name is Ethos"

"Wha…" Ichigo stood in a slight daze as the Arrancar walked down the stone steps.

"Come on, Ichigo. I know you're not deaf so why must I repeat myself? Well, like I said…" the Arrancar paused as he hopped past the last few steps, "my name is Ethos. It means authority; its fitting don't you think?"

"Where is Red… and Arrgosax… and Kruznik!?" Ichigo demanded as everything started to return to normal. Ichigo pulled Zangetsu out of the pedestal. "Tell me now."

"Hehe. You still haven't figured it out?" Ethos stopped walking a few feet from Ichigo. "I am the Arrancar, Redeemer, as well as Arrgosax and Kruznik. All their power was fused to make me or it would be more accurate to say that my power separated made them. Do you get it now, Ichigo?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll start at the beginning. You see, many years ago, before Aizen came, I was the self-proclaimed ruler and God of Hueco Mundo. I had armies of hollows at my command ready to die for me at anytime. It was great." Ethos paused as he looked up at the sky.

"But, after many years of unquestionable rule, Aizen came and RUINED EVERYTHING!" Ichigo felt Ethos' spiritual energy increase dramatically as Ethos returned his gaze to him, "When that fucker came here and started his army, he took many of my followers. When I approached him, to find out why he had come, he said some bullshit about the Soul Society and a key or something. I didn't give a fuck what he was doing but the most interesting part was when he offered me the number one spot in his Espadas."

Ethos returned his energy to normal before continuing, "I took it at first without question, to prove that no one could take it from me. But as soon as I took the spot, Aizen started to give me orders. Order after order, it was annoying after a while. It got to the point were I just tuned him out and stopped doing anything. At that moment, I sealed my fate."

"What happened?" Ichigo asked as he ready Zangetsu, just in case of a surprise attack.

"Well, Aizen wasn't too thrilled with me to begin with. So as soon as I stopped listening to him, he had his two little kiss-asses, Gin and Tousen, jump me. I fought them off with no problem, but when Aizen joined the fight…" Ethos paused as he ran his fingers though his hair and signed.

"I hate to admit it but Aizen was tough. He was barely strong enough, with the help of Gin and Tousen I might add, to get me on this stone you see before you. This stone tomb was made from just for me by Aizen to make sure I'd listen. It was suppose to seal me away forever, but thanks to the help of my one and only friend, I was able to save myself. But I couldn't free myself in my weakened state so I did the next best thing." Ethos smiled.

"What was it?"

"God Ichigo, you are dumb as dirt. The seal was only meant to hold one person, so I split myself into three. The seal still locked most of my power away but I was able to send the three parts of me away and hind them until they were strong enough to come back and release me. But what I forgot was that Aizen made the seal when he was at full strength. So my weak body split into three pieces with most of its power sealed, there was no way I could release myself without help."

"Is that why you told me to get stronger? To free you?"

"Yes… and no. You see, I didn't know about you until after I tried a few other people. Akiko was the first. She was no help but I was able to use her to help recruit Yui and Manami. They were even worse, even combine, but then I found Nell. I knew she was strong but I wasn't sure if she was strong enough. With her first try, she did as well as Akiko but unlike Akiko, she could get stronger. I trained her to be stronger so she could try again. During her training Nell mentioned you. She said she met a Shinigami who grew stronger with every fight even if he lost or almost died. She said this Shinigami had unmatched determination and potential."

"She… she said that?" Ichigo turned his head and looked at Nell. Nell was still on the floor but she still look up at Ichigo.

"Oh yes. She said that and with a smile every time she mentioned you. When she talked about you, I knew that you would be the one to free me. So I search for you all over Hueco Mundo until I found you." Ichigo turned his head and looked at Ethos. "You were lying on the floor barely breathing. Your friends were there too."

"What?" Ichigo felt a chill run down his spine.

"Ichigo, do you know how a hollow gets stronger?" Ichigo tighten his grip as Ethos smiled. "A hollow gets stronger when they eat more souls. The stronger the soul, the stronger they get. When I spilt myself into three parts, each was so weak that we couldn't fight a new Shinigami recruit fresh out of the academy. So all we did was waiting. We waited until something came along, half dead and beaten, before we pounced like scavengers, picking at scraps of souls. But then LADY LUCK SHINED ON US!"

Ethos disappeared into thin air. Ichigo turned around and saw Ethos picking up Nell by the hair. "Let her GO!"

Ichigo shunpo in font of Ethos and swung Zangetsu. Ethos jumped back, letting go of Nell, to dodge it and lunged forward with a right jab. The punch made a direct hit into Ichigo's left cheek. He was sent back a few feet but as Ichigo got his footing, a left fist connected with stomach.

Before Ethos could retract his arm for another blow, Ichigo grabbed the arm with his left hand and yell "Getsuga Tensho!"

The wave tore the sleeve of Ethos but nothing else. Ichigo looked at Ethos with shock, only to see a large grin on his face. Ethos kicked Ichigo in the back of the knee. Just as he began to fall, with his free right arm, Ethos quickly cocked it and released a powerful elbow strike into his chest. The force caused Ichigo to lose his grip on Ethos' arm and hit the floor hard and fast, with enough power to crack it.

"HAHAHA! Ichigo, do you what happened that was so lucky?" Ichigo was still slightly dazed by the hit to answer. "AIZEN HAD HIS FUCKIN' WAR! Redeemer, Arrgosax and Kruznik snuck into the World of the Living and waited on the streets of Karakura town. We waited, and as each person fell from the sky we devoured them, one after another!"

Ethos kicked Zangetsu out of Ichigo's hand, picked him up and threw him to the steps of the stone structure. Ethos began to stroll slowly towards Ichigo. "We ate every person we could; Espada, Shinigami, it didn't mattered. We didn't eat everyone though… "

Ethos walked over to Ichigo and picked him up by his collar. "We left the battle before it finished so we wouldn't get caught. After we came back, we had enough strength to look for people to help free me. So we found Akiko, the girls, and Nell. But the real prize was you, Ichigo."

Ichigo kicked Ethos in the stomach, which caused Ethos to drop him. Ichigo continued his counter-attack with a left upper-cut followed by a round-house kick that sent Ethos back a few feet. Ichigo ran towards Ethos with a right jab ready but was stopped by Ethos' much faster right rook.

As Ichigo stumbled back, Ethos jumped and spun half way around in the air before landing a heel-kick in Ichigo's face. Ichigo was sent back into the same steps Ethos threw him in moments before. "You know, when we found you, you weren't alone."

Ichigo's eyes widen as Ethos continued, "What? You don't remember? Well after waking up and seeing a scene like that, I guess most people would develop amnesia or something to forget that. Now, let me refresh for memory with some details."

Ethos walked closer to Ichigo as he spoke. "When we, Redeemer, Arrgosax, and Kruznik, found you. Your friends were there. When we said we came to take you, they weren't happy. The Shinigami with the red hair was the first to attack us. Then the big guy and the pencil neck attacked. I don't know what they were doing but they seemed every weak or maybe it was because we were in our released forms, either way it was too easy." Ethos stopped as he reached the steps.

"The red head guy died in the least painful way…" Ichigo began to remember something. Vague images began to return to Ichigo; images of Renji standing with his back to Ichigo. Ichigo remembered Renji shaking as blood pored out of large hole that covered his torso. "Kruznik tore holes all over that guy's body… he died right away."

"Then there was that skinny kid. Redeemer impaled that guy to a rock with his spikes, literally…" Again, vague images of Uryu crucified on a rock came to Ichigo. Uryu had long thick spikes sticking out of his body and arms as they held him above the ground and dripped blood. "Oh, that was brutal. Red had fun doing that. HAHAHA! But that wasn't the worse."

"When that big guy tried to save his friends, Arrgosax got him by surprise. He wasted no time dealing that guy." Ichigo felt cold as he remembered turning his head and seeing Chad being eaten alive. "Arrgosax ripped the guy's intestines out and chowed down on him. In a matter of moments that guy had no stomach. HAHAHA! WHAT SUCKED MOSTED WAS THAT WHEN ARRGOSAX WAS DONE THE GUY WAS STILL ALIVE!"

"But that was STILL… not the best and worse part." Ethos smiled as Ichigo tried to get up. "After we got done with those guys, all that was left was you… and those girls."

Ichigo reached for Ethos' throat as fast as he could but was kicked in the chest and held down by Ethos' foot. "You bastard!" Ichigo yelled.

"HAHAHA! If you loved that part Ichigo just wait, I'm not done with my story. With the guys out of the picture and the girls alone, Arrgosax decided to have fun. That short Shinigami put up one HELL of a fight but in the end Arrgosax over powered her." Ethos leaned forward slightly.

"When Arrgosax pinned her down, he began to drool and lick all over her face. Then Red noticed the other cute chick with the nice rack. So he grabbed her and told her if she did anything the Shinigami would die. As Arrgosax continue to get excited, he began to rip off her cloths. The other girl tried to turn her head but Red grabbed her head and told her to watch or she would die. Arrgosax ravaged that girl's body, badly too. When he was done she was covered in bruises and cuts… and this all happened as her friend watched. Helpless, all she did was cry. Then when Arrgosax was done using that girl as his sex toy he turned with a satisfied, yet still hungry, look in his eyes said the next ten words that made that Shinigami girl go crazy."

Ethos bent even closer to Ichigo and said with a large grin on his face, "He said and I quote 'I'm done with this girl, give me the next one.'" Ichigo became enraged as he tried to push off the floor but to no avail. "The Shinigami girl went crazy, she told him to leave her alone and not to touch her. But of course, Arrgosax paid no attention to her cries. Redeemer gave the girl to Arrgosax as he pick up the Shinigami and told her to watch just as her friend did. Again, he had his way with her but this time he was much rougher to her. When he was done the girl, she looked dead. She didn't move or talk or cry; she just lied there. When Redeemer let go of the Shinigami, she ran to her and tried to get a reaction out of her. But we all knew that the girl was already dead inside. That kind of trauma to an innocent girl like her… no way she had the will to live."

Ichigo began to cry. He had remembered hearing the cries he hear were of Rukia trying to get a response form Orihime. He cried more, but not tears of sadness but tears of anger and rage. "HAHAHA! So in the end, Red just… well, let's just say he put them out of their misery. HAHAHA!"

As Ethos laughed, Ichigo gathered all of his spiritual energy at once and released it in one burst. The force caught Ethos off guard and sent him flying back. He landed on his feet and ran to the same spot but Ichigo was gone. Then a shadow fell over him. Ethos looked up and saw Ichigo for a split second before he landed an axe-kick on Ethos' head smashing him into the floor.

As Ethos got off the ground he notice Ichigo run away. Ethos shunpo in front of Ichigo and tried to kick him. But Ichigo jumped over the kick and continued running. "Where are you going, Ichigo! You can't run away!"

Ichigo stopped, turned around, and kneeled on the floor with his right knee and hand supporting him. Ethos shunpo in front of Ichigo with a kick ready behind him. But just as Ethos was ready to release it, Ichigo raised Zangetsu off the floor and pointed it to Ethos. Ethos smile turned in to frown as Ichigo yelled, "BANKAI!"

* * *

Hoped you enjoyed it!


	7. Ch7: The Jester

Chapter 7. Enjoy...

* * *

As Ichigo roared bankai, a massive wave of energy surged from his zanpakuto. The wave struck Ethos and drove him into the steps, destroying them in the process. Ethos coughed as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Wow… that's new. I didn't know you had a Bankai," Ethos coughed out as he walked a few feet and squinted his eyes to try to see thought the dust.

"You don't know ANYTHING about me!" Ichigo exclaimed as he now held Tensa Zangetsu in his right hand and his Shinigami uniform gain its new bankai robe.

Ichigo still wore the small Quincy cape over his left shoulder but the rode itself had gain some differences from the three years since he last used it. The sleeves, from the wrists to the elbows, and the tips of the rode gained a design of dark red fire, which was nearly impossible to see at a distance. The back had also gained a picture, in the same shade of red, of a skull with three "claw" marks on the left side of its forehead. The same "claw" marks continued form his back, over his shoulder, and to the front of his right chest.

As the dust settled Ethos smiled, "What? Is that it?" Ethos smiled slightly at Ichigo's bankai, "So, all that energy and all you got is that little flimsy sword and a new outfit!? Man this sucks! Zangetsu looked so much better when it was bigger, now it's just a black katana!"

Ethos sighed and placed his hand on his forehead, "Sorry… sorry, I just thought you would have a much better Bankai, but if that's it I hope it does something special. HAHAHA!"

As Ethos laughed at Ichigo, Ichigo disappear from his sight. Ethos stopped laughing as Ichigo slashed his back. Ethos fell to his knees as the deep wound bled intensely. Ichigo placed his zanpakuto on Ethos' shoulder as he turned his head.

"Well… you can cut me now…" Ethos chuckled as Ichigo placed his Zangetsu on his throat. "I guess… you win…"

Without a word, Ichigo quickly pulled Zangetsu and opened Ethos' throat. As he bled, Ethos collapsed face down on the floor. There he lied, in a pool of his own blood.

Ichigo stared at the body for a moment, before taking a deep breath. He then raised Zangetsu above his head and swung his blade to clean it. The blood splattered in the direction of the swing.

Ichigo walked away from the corpse and towards Nell. "I'm really disappointed in you, Ichigo." Ichigo turned in shock to face Ethos' lying corpse. "I thought I told you already…" Ethos place one hand on the floor and pushed himself up slightly before standing up completely, "never let your guard down until you know your opponent is a dead."

Ichigo looked at Ethos' throat and saw that the wound was closing. Ethos turned around and spread his arms to show his back to Ichigo. That wound was also closing until it was completely gone. "You see, Ichigo… you can't win against the God of this world."

"What the hell did you do!? Why aren't you dead and how did you heal so fast?"

"Hahaha! Do you remember when you fought Arrgosax?" Ethos asked as he turned around.

"Yeah…"

"Well, if you remembered that fight, you would remember that Arrgosax had the upper hand but Redeemer saved you. After that Arrgosax got a little mad and ripped open Red's chest. The next day though, the wound was already gone. Redeemer had inherited my healing abilities after I split myself in three. But those healing abilities were very weak compared to me. The same thing goes for Kruznik and the herrio. You couldn't cut me before because mine is stronger than his."

"But it looks like I and cut you NOW!" Ichigo dashed toward Ethos and attempted to stab his right eye. In a split second, Ethos moved his head to the left, dodging Ichigo's attack, and with his right hand grabbed the tip of Ichigo's zanpakuto.

As entire blade of the zanpakuto moved, it sliced through Ethos' gripped and only stopped at the guard. Ethos quickly grabbed the handle of his zanpakuto with his left hand and drew it with lighting speed, hitting Ichigo in the gut with the hilt.

As Ichigo stumbled backward slightly, Ethos released his grip on Zangetsu and sheathed his zanpakuto as quickly as he drew it. Ichigo looked up at Ethos, just before he released a powerful strike into Ichigo's face, sending him flying back.

"Ichigo," Ethos spoke as he looked at his bleeding hand, "you might be able to cut me, but..." Ethos turned his hand and showed Ichigo his palm as the wound closed up. "I heal way too fast for you to deal any kind of real damage. Just remember, the power and abilities of all three of them are now within me and my strength is three times greater than any of them."

Ethos ran towards Ichigo and threw a combination of left and right punches. Ichigo block each punch with Zangetsu and in the process, cut up Ethos' fists and arms as well. Ichigo studied each hit and looked for an opening until he got one.

Ichigo took advantage of a small gap between the punches and stab Ethos in the stomach. As the blade entered his enemy, Ichigo turned it and slashed open Ethos' entire lower torso. A massive amount of blood pored out of his body as Ethos was punched in the face by Ichigo.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu to deal another blow but something shot out of Ethos' body. Ichigo instinctively jumped back to dodge the attack and looked at Ethos. He was slouched over and bleeding all over the floor. His arms were cut up and something was moving in his open stomach.

"Hehehe. Not bad, Ichigo... You look for openings and attack with perfect accuracy..." Ethos stood up straight and took a deep breathe, "I might have to take this fight serious." Ethos' wounds were starting to close but Ichigo saw what it was that attacked him. There was a long dark-blue tentacle sticking outside his open wound but as the wound closed the tentacle retreated into Ethos' body.

"Shall we continue?" Ethos asked with a sinister smile.

Ichigo charged Ethos and swung his zanpakuto; Ethos braced himself and blocked the attack with his forearm. Ichigo grabbed Zabimaru with his left hand and released its shika with one upward swing. Ethos jumped over Ichigo to dodge the attack, but Ichigo turn around and slashed with Zangetsu.

Just as the blade looked like it was about to strike Ethos, something white came out of his back to block it but the object retreated back into the coat Ethos wore as quickly as it came out. Ethos turned around and heel-kicked Ichigo in the face. Ichigo countered with a kick of his own that landed in Ethos' chest and was followed by a slash of both Zangetsu and Zabimaru.

Just as both zanpakutos came down, Ethos raised his right forearm and a long white spike came out of his sleeve and blocked the attack.

"WHAT!" Ichigo yelled in shock.

"That's not the only trick I can do, Ichigo!" Ethos chuckled as he jumped back.

Ethos and Ichigo stared at each other for a brief moment. Ethos reached for the right sleeve of his coat and tore it off. Ichigo saw that on Ethos' right arm had tattoos. One tattoo on his shoulder was a row of teeth and a pair of eyes on his upper bicep. On his forearm, just under his elbow, he had oval rings that wrapped all the way around his arm. Ichigo also noticed that the spike, that blocked his attack, looked like it was coming out of his arm.

"What is that?"

"What do you mean? What's what? HAHAHA!"

"Don't fuck with me! What's that thing coming out of your arm?"

"Oh! This thing? This is just one of the many spikes I can produce in my body. Redeemer had this ability too but he could only use it was he is released form." Ethos grabbed the spike with his left hand and began to pull it out, "These spikes hurt like hell when they come out so they are only suppose to be used for a natural defense but I can use these spikes as a projectiles or as a simple sword..."

Ethos pulled the spike out of his arm and threw it in the air before catching it with his right hand. He ran toward Ichigo and slammed down with the spike as soon as he came within range. Ichigo block the attack with Zangetsu and then swung Zabimaru, cutting Ethos' leg. Ethos continued his attack with slash after slash pushing Ichigo back until Ichigo found another opening and took it.

Ichigo got one good hack at Ethos' ribs with Zabimaru, but as soon as Ichigo tried retracting the blade something grabbed it.

"What the?"

"I got you NOW!" Ethos exclaimed as Ichigo realized that the tentacle from before was holding Zabimaru. Ethos took advantage of this and cut Ichigo's left forearm. As Ichigo dropped the zanpakuto, Ethos' tentacle released it as well.

Ethos took the offense again as Ichigo tried to stab him in the face. Ethos dodged the thrust and grabbed Ichigo's right wrist, then he turned sideways while unleashing three powerful elbow strikes. The first struck Ichigo in the nose, the second in the chest, and the final in the stomach.

Next Ethos pulled Ichigo down to the floor but before Ichigo had a chance to hit the floor; Ethos delivered a devastating knee strike into his stomach. Ichigo spat blood as Ethos continued his assault by upper-cutting him into the air.

Ichigo looked at the floor as he flew up into the air. Ethos smiled and shunpo above Ichigo and kicked him, to send him flying back to the floor. Ethos shunpo again to meet Ichigo as he fell. Ethos laughed and kicked him again to send Ichigo falling even faster. Just as Ichigo felt he was going to hit the floor, he looked up to see the sky but only saw Ethos' open palm as it slammed his head into to the floor.

The force of the fall caused everything to shake and rumble as derby rose into the sky. Ethos closed his eyes, raised his head, and took a deep breathe when he stood up.

"Ichigo, do you know why I can't be beat?" Ichigo tried to raise his head off the floor but Ethos kicked him in the face and threw the spike away, "I can't be beat because a God can't die. I'd admit that you put up one HELL of a fight but..."

Ethos reached down and picked up Ichigo by the throat with his right hand. "You will never win so just die here and let me restore my kingdom to its former glory." Ethos stretched his arm outward and flexed his it as many large and small spikes shot up from his skin covering his arm in them. The spikes pointed in the direction of his fingers.

Ethos pointed his hand straight for Ichigo's chest. "Any last words? No? Then die..." Ethos reached back and thrust his arm.

"ICHIGO!"

Ethos stopped his attack just as it reached Ichigo's chest and turned his head to see who called out Ichigo's name. As he turned, a large silver object struck him in the chest and caused him to release Ichigo. The object drilled into Ethos and sent him flying to one part of the stone city.

"Ichigo! Are you ok?" Ichigo looked up in a slight daze from the floor to see who saved him. "Come on, Ichigo! He'll be back soon. We need to get out of here."

"N...Nell?"

"Yes, Ichigo it's me, now let's go!" Nell picked up Ichigo and ran in the opposite direction that Ethos was thrown.

"Nell, what did you..."

"I threw my lance at him but that won't hold him off for long."

"Your lance?" At that moment Ichigo realize that Nell was in her released form and running in between the stone structures of the city.

"Ichigo."

"Yeah."

"I think I know who we are dealing with."

"What!? How you know!?"

"I said I think, but if my guess is right, we are in deep trouble." Nell turned corner after corner and jumped over fallen rocks as she spoke, "When I first served under Aizen, the number one stop of the Espadas was empty. I was told never to ask about the Arrancar who had that spot before Stark, so I never did... All I knew was that the Arrancar was powerful enough to defy Aizen's will and fight Gin, Tousen, and Aizen himself all at the same time. There was also another rumor that he was the supposed ruler of Hueco Mundo before Aizen came."

"So I guess what he said was true."

"Yeah, but the most disturbing information I have was when Aizen sent me to find other Arrancars to serve in his army. In one village, I found some old books that had legends of the old ruler of Hueco Mundo. The books told of the God King of Hueco Mundo, and that he rule the world with terror and an iron fist. He would sore above the sands and spread the plague that was his wrath. He body represented death, pain, and madness in a physical form. He was a cruel and merciless tyrant but with his rule, Hueco Mundo thrived and prospered with power and the Hollows were at their prime." Nell stopped in a small area and placed Ichigo down as she took a short rest.

"What did you do with the books?" Ichigo asked as he looked around the corners to see if they were followed.

"I gave them to Aizen and asked if those books were accurate. He told me not to look any further into the legends and then reassigned me to a different area. I thought it was suspicions, so I asked what happened to the books and who replaced me in that area. Gin told me that Aizen destroyed the books and assigned Nnoitra to the area..."

Ichigo stood and contemplated the situation for a moment. What could he do? His opponent is a man who can heal almost instantaneously and was strong enough to stand against Aizen. First he knew he had to get Nell to a safe area so Ethos would not harm her, then he might have a chance to give everything he had at him.

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden laugh. "HAHAHA! So Aizen tried to erase me existence from history! That must mean he never wanted to see me again... WOW! I made one HELL of an impression on him!" Ichigo and Nell looked up in shock to see Ethos preached on top of one of the rocks.

Nell grabbed Ichigo and shunpo away. Nell shunpo again and again between the rocks as fast as she could. "Nell! Put me down, I'll hold him off while you run, I'll catch up!" Ichigo yelled.

"No, Ichigo, you won't. I'm faster than you even if you are in your Bankai, right now we just have to..." The wall next to Nell crashed down as she spoke. Nell dropped Ichigo as Ethos jumped out of the rubble, grabbed her throat, and pinned her against the wall. Ichigo swung Zangetsu, but Ethos shot three spikes out of his shoulder that impaled Ichigo to a wall. One spike pinned his left thigh, the other two pinned each shoulder.

"So if you're faster than Ichigo then that means I'm faster than him because I was able to follow you with no problem." Ethos smiled as he reached back and punched Nell in one of her legs. "I'm not a big fan of bestiality so how about you turn back in that much more beautiful and elegant form."

Nell refused his order and struggle to brake free to from Ethos' grip. Nell's efforts proved to be useless.

Ethos punched Nell again in the same spot before he spoke again, "Come on Nell, I would he less painful if you WOULD JUST LISTEN!" Ethos punched Nell repeatedly in the same spot as she screamed in pain.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"Oh no, I can't do that Ichigo. Then there would be no show for you to watch. HAHAHA!" Ethos landed one more punch just before Nell reverted back into her previous form. "Now that's more like it. You look so much better; don't you agree, Ichigo?"

"FUCK YOU! LET HER GO!"

"Hahaha! You're so hostel Ichigo." Ethos released her from his grip. Nell fell to the floor and lied on her side as she whimpered in pain. "What's wrong Nell? You were always such a strong and proud Arrancar. Where did all that strength go?" Ethos asked as he kneeled down to her.

"Fuck you." Nell whispered.

"Whaaaaat? Did cute little Nell say something?"

Nell raised her head off the floor before speaking, "I said FUCK Y..." Ethos punched Nell in the jaw before she could finish her sentence.

"Now Nell, is that any way for a servant to talk to their God?"

"I'm not your servant, and you're no G..." Ethos punched Nell again in the jaw.

"You might not think you're my servant but the way I see it..." Ethos stood up from the ground before continuing, "You are nothing more and a slave girl graveling at my feet." Ethos finished his sentence by kicking Nell in the rib before picking her off the floor and pinning her against the wall again by her throat.

"You know, Nell... I always thought that you were beautiful, but you were always too up tight." Ethos grabbed Nell shirt and slowly began to tear her cloths off. "I think I can change that."

"LEAVE HER ALONE! ETHOS!" Ichigo yelled as he tried to pull the spike in his thigh out.

Ethos tore off Nell's shirt, exposing her chest, "You see Nell, that wasn't so bad." Nell turned her head to not make eye contact and hide her shame. "Now let's see what else you're hiding." Ethos grabbed Nell's pants legs and started to rip those as well. "Don't worry... try to relax and enjoy because... I know I will."

"ETHOS!" With all his remaining physical strength, Ichigo ripped out the spike and threw it at Ethos. The spike spun in the air and struck Ethos in the face, cutting his cheek. At that moment, Ethos stopped and stared at the spike on the floor for a moment before glaring at Ichigo.

"Ok... Ichigo... I'll leave her alone..." Ethos pulled Nell off the wall and held her in the air, "But I guess I'll have to mess you now." Ethos slammed Nell face down into the floor before letting her go.

As Ethos stood up, he picked up the spike that Ichigo threw and walked over to him. "Have you ever wondered how I know so much about you or Nell, even though I haven't been around for a long time?"

"No" Ichigo said plainly as he struggled to free his shoulders from the wall.

"Well, that's a shame Ichigo because you should. You see, when Redeemer completed the ritual to revive me, not only did I absorb their bodies but all three of their memories too. Do you know what that means?"

"No"

"That means I was able to, not only add all their memories to me but I was also able to remember lost memories too." Ichigo tighten his grip on Zangetsu, "I remember things that all three of them forgot... short term memories, Ichigo. I remember things like... how the air felt cold the first day they were brought into this world. I also remembered killing that hollow in front of Yui and Manami and seeing their cute terrified faces. But the best memories I recovered were how that Shinigami girl's hair smelled or how she called out your name as I satisfied myself with her body."

Ichigo began to become enraged as Ethos continued his rant, "I remember how she tried to spit out the taste of her dead friend's intestine from her mouth. I remember how that other girl cried your name, so softly, as she watched her friend's suffering or how she tasted so sweet in between those long legs of her. HAHAHA!"

Ethos laughed uncontrollably as he recanted the terrible events. This was the last straw, Ichigo snapped and released all his spiritual energy to free himself from that wall. The instant release of energy sent Ethos flying back into a wall. Ichigo charged him and pinned him to the wall with his right hand as he reached back with his left fist.

"LA MUERTE!" Ichigo exclaimed as he drove his fist into Ethos' face. The wall behind Ethos cracked in to a pattern of a skull as the sound of the impacted echoed through out the city.

"HAHAHA! Is that all you got!" Ethos taunted.

"I'm just getting started!" Ichigo switched hands so that he held Ethos by his left hand and he was free to attack with his right. "LE DIRECTO!" Ichigo again struck Ethos in the face, only this time he release the energy blast a second later after impact.

Ethos crashed through the wall and was buried in a pile of derby. Ichigo stood on the rocks and raised his fist again to deliver another punch.

Ichigo struck the ground and sent a wave surging into the pile. In a matter of moments the ruble was destroyed and only dust remained. Ichigo stared at the floor for a few seconds before quickly turning around and looking up.

"Damn, Ichigo! You almost got me." Ethos teased as he sat on top of another wall, "Now let's see if you can catch me!" Ethos stood up on the rock wall and waved bye to Ichigo.

"WAIT! GET BACK HERE!" Ichigo yelled as Ethos jumped from stone to stone. "Damn it, Nell are you ok!?"

Nell slowly lifted her head from the ground. Her head bled and her mask was cracked even more. Nell spoke softly, "Ichigo... stop him... before he recov..." Nell's eyes glazed over as her head dropped to the floor. Ichigo ran to Nell and screamed her name.

"NELL! NELL! WAKE UP!" Ichigo wasn't able to get a response out of Nell but he could tell she was still breathing. "Damn it! Nell, I'm sorry but I have to leave you." Ichigo untied the small Quincy cape and folded it into a billow. He placed it under her head and noticed she began to shake as the cold night air blew over her. Ichigo looked around to find something to cover her.

As he looked around, he saw something white caught on top of one of the rocks. Ichigo shunpo to the object and took it. As he freed it for the rock, he realized that it was the same robe Red wore. Ichigo shunpo back to Nell and covered her it the tattered piece of cloth. "Sorry Nell, but this is the best I could do." Ichigo bushed some of Nell's hair out of her face, "I come back as soon as I can." Ichigo took one last look at her before he turned around and began to chase after Ethos.

Ichigo shunpo continuously until he saw Ethos skipping from rock to rock at a very slow pace. Ichigo quickly closed the gap between them and reached for Sode no Shirayuki.

"Not so fast Ichigo!" Ethos turned around in mid-air as he jumped and threw the spike he held at Ichigo. Suspecting an attack, Ichigo blocked the spike with Zangetsu but Ethos started to jump faster and further the gap between them. Ichigo pursued with all his strength but he never seem to get closer. Ethos took one last leap and landed on a large flat surface and stopped.

Ichigo saw this as an opportunity and took it. He swung Zangetsu with his right hand. As the blade nearly struck its target, Ethos turned around with amazing speed and blocked the attack with a weapon.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized Ethos blocked the attack with Zabimaru. "I can see by your expression that you weren't expecting that. Well, I guess you should pay more attention to YOUR SURROUNDINGS!" Ethos yelled. Ethos pushed Ichigo away and jumped back.

Ichigo glanced around briefly and noticed they were back at the stone. Ethos stood right in the middle of the ring on the floor and Ichigo stood just on the rim. Ethos smiled and tossed Zabimaru to Ichigo.

The zanpakuto spun in the air and landed on the floor in front of Ichigo. "Come on Ichigo... take it, it's yours isn't it?"

"Why?" Ichigo whispered while looking at Zabimaru.

"What are you talking about now?"

"Why did you give Zabimaru back? Why don't you use your zanpakuto? WHY DON'T YOU FIGHT ME SEROUSLY!"

Ethos stood quietly and stared at Ichigo with his cold eyes. "Because..." Ichigo looked up at Ethos as he spoke in a menacing voice, "you can't beat a God."

Ichigo grit his teeth and kick Zabimaru at Ethos. He grabbed the zanpakuto in mid-air by the blade with his right hand. Ichigo rushed Ethos with Zangetsu in his right hand and Sode no Shirayuki in the other. Before Ethos had time to react, Ichigo stabbed him in the stomach with Zangetsu.

As Ethos realized he was hit, Ichigo let go of Zangetsu and with Sode no Shirayuki, he cut off Ethos' right arm. He then stabbed Ethos' foot with the zanpakuto, pinning him to the floor. Ethos threw a left punch but Ichigo grabbed it with his left. Ethos felt Ichigo spiritual energy increase suddenly with a dark aura.

"La Muerte..." Ichigo said coldly as he clenched his hand. The energy flowed into Ethos' arm, burning his flesh off from the inside out.

"DAAAAAMN!" Ethos screamed as his arm burned to the very bone. Ichigo released his hand and reached for Zabimaru. Ethos tried to jump back but his foot was still pinned to the floor.

Ichigo raised Zabimaru above his head and slammed down with full force. The blade struck Ethos' left shoulder and almost cut him in two.

Ichigo stepped back, breathing hard, and stared at Ethos. "You little prick!" Ethos grunted as he glared at Ichigo.

"You're done, Ethos." Ichigo grabbed Zabimaru, turned it back into its sealed form, and pulled it out of Ethos before sheathing it.

As Ichigo did the same with Sode no Shirayuki, Ethos spoke, "Ichigo, I was going to kill you painlessly but... after this...insult, I'm going to show what happens to a worm who tries to defy God!"

Ichigo looked down at the slouched and cringing "God" before him and felt a strange sense of pity. "Good bye, Ethos" Ichigo whispered as he took hold of Zangetsu. Ethos eyes widen as he saw the handle of Zangetsu began to glow black and radiate with spiritual energy.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Ichigo released the massive wave into Ethos' body, causing his torso to tare open and pieces of him to fly all over the surrounding area. Crimson blood covered Ichigo from head to toe. Ethos' body fell to its knees with only the legs, spine, and a few ribs, along with part of the right side of his chest and from the collar bone up, remaining. For a brief moment, Ichigo stared at the lifeless body and began to more and more uneasy as his instinct sensed it was not over.

"You truly wish to invoke my wrath... don't you?" Ethos said in a deeper tone of voice than usual. As he said this, Ichigo saw many of the same dark-blue tentacles from before begin to extend form the torn pieces of flesh surrounding them. "I cannot and will not be killed by the likes of you."

"How are you still alive?" Ichigo asked as he noticed the pieces of flesh began to drag themselves to Ethos' body. As the flesh gathered, they fused with other passing segments until they reached their intended destination. Each piece began to restore Ethos' body to the point that it seemed he was never injured.

"I'm alive because I was never dead..." Ethos replied as he stood up. "I... am... A GOD!!!" Ethos roared to the sky. Ichigo jumped back to distance himself from his enemy. The damage to Ethos' torso was gone and the severed right arm reattached but his left arm was still burnt to the bone.

"You noticed," Ethos commented as he miraculously raised his left arm. Ethos stared for a moment at his arm in front of his face and chuckled. "My entire body has been restored except my left arm... it's still damaged." Ichigo said nothing as he readied himself for anything. "The reason for that is because my body can heal even faster if I can find some of the originally damage cell... restoring cells, rather than creating them, is easier for me. I can reanimate dead tissue with ease so I can not die."

Ethos smiled as pushed the left side of his coat to reveal his zanpakuto. Ichigo was finally able to see the full size of the blade. The sheath was wide and long with a very dark, almost black, shade of red. The zanpakuto must have been at least five inches longer than Tensa Zangetsu and two inches wider. Ichigo was surprised Ethos was able to have such a large sword tied to his waist and still fight at the level he was.

Ethos grabbed the handle of the zanpakuto, this cause Ichigo to instantly raise his guard even more. "Now... Ichigo... this is where the true test of your strength begins."

* * *

Hoped you liked it.


	8. Ch8: The King

Chapter 8... yay...

* * *

Ethos drew his zanpakuto slowly. The sound of the blade being unsheathed pierced his opponent's inner ear. The sliding steel was like the cries of tortured souls. When the entire length was out, Ichigo examined the blade from the point he was stand and noticed its unique characteristics.

The sliver blade, as he suspected from the sheath's size, was at least two inches wider but no more than four inches longer than Tensa Zangetsu. The back of the blade had three small curves that made it seem like the waves. The waves also divided the zanpakuto's back into four equal sections, but the most distinctive difference was the edged side of the blade. The first two to three inches from the guard was straight but the majority of the blade, except the tip, was serrated with steel "teeth."

"So, Ichigo," Ethos said in a serious tone of voice, "Are you ready?" Ichigo stared at him for a moment as he expected Ethos to smile or laugh. He did not.

"Yeah," Ichigo said with a slight smirk on his face.

"Very well, this will be your execution." Before his opponent had time to react, Ethos ran toward Ichigo dragging the zanpakuto behind him with his right hand.

Ichigo took his stance and braced himself to face the hollow. As he reached Ichigo, Ethos jumped slightly into the air and slammed his zanpakuto down to the shinigami.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu and block the attack but something was wrong. Ichigo notice that Ethos did not change the serious expression on his face as they locked their blade in a test of strength. Ichigo tried to push Ethos back but he didn't budge.

Ethos felt the push and plainly said, "It that it? Pathetic." Ichigo suddenly became overwhelmed as Ethos pushes him back with almost no force. Ichigo was pushed back severely feet from Ethos with the single push.

"Ichigo, where is Neliel?" he asked.

"That's not important right now!" Ichigo answered as he charged his opponent. Ethos blocked the attack and simply pushed him back again with only one hand on his blade.

"I said where is Neliel?"

"She isn't here!" Ichigo said as he ran toward Ethos and swung Zangetsu. Just as Ethos was going to block the attack, Ichigo shunpo behind him as fast as he could and swung with full force. Ethos, with incredible speed, blocked Ichigo's sneak attack with his large zanpakuto. Ethos turned around with the same impressive speed and kicked Ichigo away.

"That attack won't work on me twice. Now, where is Neliel?" Ethos lifted his zanpakuto off the floor and placed it on his right shoulder.

"What do you care? I'm here now." Ichigo stood up from the floor and gave Ethos a look of murderous intends.

"Ichigo, I don't care if you're here or not. The only thing that matters is that you suffer, so I'll ask you one more time nicely: Where is Neliel?"

"She is probably long gone now. I told her to run as far as she could and not to worry about me. You'll never find..."

"You're lying, Ichigo." Ethos interrupted with a smile growing across his face, "You're lying, and we both know it. She didn't run."

"If you're so sure, then why ask that question?" Ichigo placed both hands on zanpakuto as he spoke. Ethos' smile grew even more as he chuckled.

"I want to see how would you respond and now I know... you can't lie to me."

"What?"

"You heard me. You can't lie to me. You never lied to me before; you never had a reason to. For as long as I known you," Ethos paused for a brief moment and raised his left fleshless arm and placed his chin in his hand, "well not as long as I known you but as long as Red knew you, you never had to lie before until now you do. So from that, I now know how to tell when you lie."

"Shut the fuck up!" Ichigo yelled as he charged the Arrancar. Ethos blocked the attack, yet again, push him back.

"So, Ichigo, where is Neliel?"

"Shut up!"

"I think I now were she is," Ethos said a he switch to offense and began his attack, "I know you want to protect Neliel so you wouldn't tell me were he really she, obviously. Since you lied, I'm thinking that Nell is most likely either lying on the floor in the same spot I left her or you moved her. But she is mostly in the same area, judging by the time it took you to catch up to me. Am I right, or just close?"

Ichigo blood ran cold. _"How did he know all that?"_ Ichigo thought, _"Damn it! I can't let him get to her. I have to stop him!"_

_"Then let me out..."_

"What?"

"GOT YA!" Ethos gave Ichigo an upper-cut that caused him to suddenly return his attention to the fight at hand. "Come on, Ichigo, you seem distracted."

"Fuck you," Ichigo said as he continued to exchange strikes from the Arrancar.

_"What was that? I'm I hearing things? Is Nell ok? Can I save her?"_ Ichigo's thought began to run out of control. He was unable to focus and began to lose his footing.

"Too slow!" Ethos called out as he gained an opening and sliced part of Ichigo's upper thigh.

_"Damn it! I'm hurt! Is Ethos hurt? Have I done anything damage? Can I do this? Can I win? Is he really a God!?"_

_"Fuck no!"_

"Ichigo, pay attention!"

"Wha?" Ichigo looked up and realized that Ethos jumped into the air. As he came down and Ethos grabbed Ichigo's head and slammed the back of it into the floor.

"Damn it! If you're not going to focus on the fight then I'll make you focus!" Ethos walked a little ways off before reaching down with his left hand and grabbing the shinigami by his ankle. "Maybe this will help you keep your head in the game."

Ethos threw Ichigo into the sky with immense force. He then stabbed his zanpakuto into the floor and jumped into the air. Ichigo tried to stop but he was thrown too fast and merely slowed down a bit. Ethos caught up to his prey and delivered a powerful knee to Ichigo's stomach.

Ichigo felt his entire lower half cringe in pain. His legs felt numb but his stomach burned as he began to feel light headed. The Arrancar chuckle again as he grabbed Ichigo's clothes on his shoulders and spin him around twice in the air to gather momentum before hurling him back to the floor.

Once again Ichigo couldn't stop himself as he fell back to the floor but just before impacted, he release some spiritual energy to soften the crash. The entire platform's floor was completely destroyed by the force of the impact. Ichigo looked up to the sky and saw something glowing bright with a mixture of light purple and white colors.

Ichigo saw what it was that made the glowing light, it was Ethos. He took a fighting stance in the sky with his knees bent and his body turned to the side with the left side in front of him while his right arm was pulled back. Ethos' body radiated with his power as he gathered his spiritual energy into his arm. His entire right arm and shoulder, along with most of his back, made the purple glowing aura. As the energy gathered, the right side of Ethos face began to be covered by a "mask" of spiritual energy.

Ichigo pick himself off the floor and looked up at his opponent. The right side of Ethos' face was completely hidden behind the mask of energy, which also began to cover his right arm and shoulder as well. The mask resembled a skull with a huge horn that started at his forehead and curved to the back of his head then curved half way forward making the horn into a tightly curved "S" shape.

Suddenly, the color of his right arm darkened to a crimson red as he roared, "Giga! Imperial!" His voice quickly changed to a deeper, almost demonic-like voice as finish with his final word, "STRIKE!"

At that moment, Ethos came crashing down as the sky itself seemed to be burned by his power. Ichigo shunpo as fast as he could backwards to dodge the impact, but as Ethos connected with the floor the energy he had stored was released in one attack.

"Santen Kesshun!" Ichigo formed the shield in front of him for protection against the derby that was hurled by the massive force. Unable to see through the dust and sand in wind, Ichigo kneeled down to try and ride out the hurricane like winds. "Damn!" Ichigo muttered to himself, "What did he do?"

_"You better move, Ichigo."_

"Huh?" The floor underneath Ichigo began to rumble and as soon as the shaking began a large spike shot out of the ground, slashing Ichigo's right shoulder. "Damn!" Ichigo grunted with clenched teeth as the pain in his shoulder caused him to jump back even more.

The ground underneath him began to shake again, but this time Ichigo was ready. More spikes shot up from the floor, each one quicker than the last, but he dodged each one. Finally, the wind died down and the ground stopped shaking. Ichigo looked around at the damage done by his opponent.

At first, only the destroyed remains of part of the city and a few massive spikes stood out but after a short walk, Ichigo stopped and stood in awe as he reach the ritual platform. The platform itself was no more and was replaced by a massive structure made of walls, towers, and pillars of large white spikes and thrones intertwined with each other. The structure looked similar to a large white tree, due the fact that the structure reached toward the sky with spikes branching off from the "trunk" in several directions while several spike towers surrounded its base.

"What do you think? It's nice, isn't it?" Ethos asked as he walked out into the open while dragging his zanpakuto with his right hand. The energy that covered his face was no longer there but Ichigo noticed some sort of glowing dust being taken away by wind as Ethos walked. Ichigo stood silently for a moment before raising his blade to a ready position. "Not going to talk?" Ethos asked, "Fine, you don't need to answer me."

Ethos began to pick up speed as he started to run towards his opponent. Ichigo charged at him as well, gathering up spiritual energy as he ran. In a matter of moments, the two bodies were with in striking distance. Ethos raised his zanpakuto and thrust it in to Ichigo's left shoulder as he did the same to Ethos.

Ichigo felt the sharp pain of the blade but soon it disappeared and was replaced to a numbing sensation. For a moment neither person moved as they both analyzed their situation. Feeling his opponent trying to drive the blade deeper into his shoulder, Ethos sighed and grabbed Zangetsu and plunged in deeper so the blade exited through the back of his should.

"Was that what you were trying to do?" Ethos asked as brought his face closer to Ichigo, "This hurts a lot but I'm not screaming... Let's see how you handle pain." As Ethos slowly began to push his zanpakuto deeper, Ichigo instantly felt the pain return as each serrated hook entered his wound and torn its way into the flesh.

Ichigo fought back the urge to yell as he spoke, "I... felt worst."

"Oh, this is nothing," Ethos replied as had pushed the large zanpakuto nearly half way in of its full length, "Now it's going to hurt like hell." At that point, Ethos released his grip on the zanpakuto. Ichigo felt the zanpakuto become extraordinarily heavy.

"Awww! Damn it!" Ichigo yelled as he fell to his left knee. His shoulder felt immense pain as the serrated edge of the blade dug down into his shoulder and open his wound wider. The sheer weight of the blade caused him to let his left hand to leave Zangetsu's handle and attempt to support the massive load that was dragging him down just by the force of gravity.

"I guess you can't handle it, oh well." Ethos took hold of the handle again but to Ichigo the blade felt as if as he wasn't holding it at all, "Judging by your scream I guess that you figured out that my blade isn't for feather weights. My zanpakuto take a lot of strength to use it like I do. Its weight is unusually high for its size because I want my opponents to feel as if the world itself was behind my blade. You didn't feel the weight before because I as always supporting most of it but now you feel was it can really do."

Ethos pushed the zanpakuto down on the handle to deepen the wound which caused more blood to leave it much faster. Ichigo resisted the pain while trying to find a way to counter attack but the pain and the loss of blood soon proved to be too much. Ichigo began to sway back and forth as he became light headed and his vision faded.

"I think it's time..." Ethos slowly dragged out his serrated sword from Ichigo's wound, pulling flesh was it worked its way out. Ethos raised his zanpakuto above his head as spoke, "You, Ichigo Kurosaki, have tried like many others to stop me but failed in the end. But, unlike everyone, you did manage to invoke my attention and earned my respect. So, in recognition of this..." Ethos lowered his sword until the stained serrated edge lightly touched Ichigo's throat, "I will remember your name. Farewell, Ichigo, and go rot in someone else's hell you son of a bitch."

Ethos gripped his sword with both hands and drew it back. Taking a stance for maximum speed, Ethos looked down at the kneeing shinigami and stared for a brief moment before swinging with full force. The zanpakuto sliced the wind with an ominous howl as the sword ended its swing with a clash between the steel of the blade and sands of Hueco Mundo.

Ichigo's blood that ran down the entire blade's length and dipped down onto the sand. Ethos stood up strait and closed his eyes. Listening to the rare moment of peace and quiet, Ethos took in the serenity of the area. He took a long, deep breath and held it in, enjoying the smell of the blood and the aromas within the air. Exhaling heavily, along with a low growl, Ethos opened his eyes and turned around to see the spot were Ichigo was kneeing. "Damn it..." Ethos whispered to himself, "I missed."

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Hoped you enjoyed it.


	9. Ch9: Concubines' Revolt

Chapter 9... whoo...

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Ethos instantly became frustrated as he stared at the empty spot of disturbed sand where Ichigo's headless body was suppose to be lying. Sighing, Ethos tilted his head to the left and said, "Why did you move him, Manami?"

Manami was kneeing down, several yards away from Ethos, and holding a bloody Ichigo in her arms. "What are you doing Red!? Why were you trying to kill Ichigo!?"

"I was trying to kill him because I... wait. What did you call me?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Did you just call me Red?" Ethos grew a mischievous smile.

"Y...yeah, why wouldn't I call you that? But you still didn't answer my question: why were you trying to kill Ichigo!?" Manami demand though she suddenly felt uneasy by the strange question and knew something was wrong.

Ethos chuckled. "You stupid bitch."

"What did you s..." Before Manami could finish her sentence, Ethos disappeared from her sight.

"I said that you are a stupid little bitch. You can't even recognize the person you fell in love with." Manami turn her head and saw Ethos towering above her.

Manami looked up that the man who she thought was Red and an instinctive feeling came over her. This feeling was primal, it was something she had felt before but never this intense. It told her to run and don't look back. Her heart began to beat faster, her breath quickened, her eyes opened as wide as they could, and she began to sweat. The instinctive feeling was fear. The mere shadow of the man seemed to drain all light from her surroundings; it engulfed her in its darkness.

Manami tried to speak but she wasn't even able to open he mouth; she just stared into the source of this feeling, this fear... it was those eyes. The eyes weren't the brown warm eyes she fell in love with, they were definitely different. What surprised her most was that she recognized those cold dark green eyes. They were the eyes of a hurt man who lost faith in everything, the eyes of one who only knew pain and nothing else, those were the soulless eyes of Kruznik. The body was of her beloved but the eyes were of another. Manami tried with all her might to move but her knees just began to quake. Gathering her composer as best she could, she tried to regain a sense of calmness but her resolve was quickly shattered with just a single jester the man did.

The man smiled a grin that only one person she knew could smile. It was a smile of a man with nothing to lose or live for, a smile that only knew death as a friend, a smile of a pitiful coward whose only reason to live was to die in a ditch were no one would mourn their passing... it was a smile of false happiness, it was Arrgosax's smile. Manami jumped away as far as she could with Ichigo in her arms so the figure wasn't behind her.

"Who are you!?" She screamed instead of demanding like she wanted to.

"What? You don't know my name? Oh, that's not good." Ethos lunged with enough speed to reach Manami before she had time to move. He grabbed her by the throat with his left hand and picked her up. Losing her gripped due to the sudden shortness of breath, Manami accidently let go of Ichigo except for her left hand, which held onto Ichigo torn clothing on his shoulder.

"Why are you still holding him?" Manami opened her mouth to speak but Ethos tightened his grip causing her to gasp. "He can't help you. You can only relay on yourself in this world." Ethos grabbed Ichigo's shirt and threw him to the side. The sudden jerking movement caused Manami to tare a long strip of Ichigo's cloth, which she still held in her hand.

"Wh...why are... you doing... this?" Manami gasped out as best she could.

"I am doing this because only the strong deserved to live. Hueco Mundo is my home, my kingdom, my refuge. Anyone who can't live on their own doesn't deserves to live at all." Ethos tightened his grip around her throat. Manami struggled to breathe as her hoped that someone would save her.

Ethos pulled her right next to his cheek and took a long deep breath. He smiled and whispered in her ear with a soft kind tone, "I'm gonna miss waking up to this... beautiful scent of yours. Goodbye, Manami... it's been fun." Ethos pulled Manami away as his smile disappeared. He lifted his zanpakuto to her side, just above her waist. Then he pulled it back ready to swing at full force. A moment past as Manami stared at the large sword shining in the moonlight, then Ethos swung his blade. Manami shut her eyes as tight as she could and prepared herself for the worse. She heard a loud clang but she felt nothing, not pain or cold.

She opened he eyes and looked at Ethos face. Ethos wasn't looking at her, his gaze was to the left of her. Manami look in the same direction and was filled with relief, tear began to fall from her eyes as she said as clearly as she could between the sobs, "Yui, thank you."

Yui was standing in-between Manami and the large zanpakuto, with he own zanpakuto blocking the much larger one. Yui's zanpakuto was a thin straight dual-edge sword, its length was slightly longer than a standard zanpakuto. The handle was very long compared to the length of the blade; it was long enough to be held by two hands with extra room left over for a third. The handle's design was similar to the handle on a claymore sword with a small skull at the base were the blade met the handle.

Yui humphed before saying, "Sorry, Manami... I shouldn't have let you gone ahead." Yui turn her head and looked at Manami, "Don't worry, I'm here now." As she said her last words, Yui turned her head and push the larger zanpakuto. The strength of the push surprised Ethos because it caused him to lose his balance for a moment.

After she pushed the zanpakuto, Yui raised her sword above her head and slammed down cutting Ethos' right arm. The cut didn't sever Ethos' arm but it did made a deep wound that cause him to drop his weapon. Yui turn and face Ethos and smacked the hilt of her zanpakuto into his jaw. Ethos was stunned slightly, but it was enough time for Yui to grab Manami from Ethos and jump back.

"Damn whore, you cut my tendons." Ethos said as he tried to pick up his zanpakuto but unable to move his fingers.

"That was the point, Red. Now you can't use that sword." Yui commented with a smirk.

Manami coughed a few time before saying, "That's not Red."

"What? Then who is it?" Yui looked at Ethos in confusion.

"So you don't know my name either. Well too bad." Ethos said as he grabbed hold of his zanpakuto. Yui's eye widen in disbelief as she saw him pick up the sword.

"How did you do that!? I cut all your tendons! You shouldn't be able to move your fingers!"

"It's simple. I just healed my tendons, they're good as new."

"No... it's not possible. Not even Red could heal that fast. That really isn't him. Can you stand Manami?"

"Yeah, I think I can." Manami answered as Yui let her stand on her feet.

"Good 'cuz this is gonna get..." Yui was cut off mid-sentence by Ethos pinning her against one of the large pillar like spikes.

"YUI!" Manami yelled as she ran as fast as she could to her friend. Ethos raised his left leg slightly before slamming it to the floor. Less than a moment later, before Manami could get within a few feet of them a large spike shot out of the ground and impaled Manami in the stomach and lifted her off the floor.

"MANAMI!" Yui screamed in horror to what she just saw.

"Oh shut up. She's fine, you dumb whore. Maybe a bit uncomfortable, fine none the less." Ethos was he stabbed his zanpakuto into the floor. "Isn't that right Manami."

"Y...you BASTARD!" Manami yelled as she lifted her head and kick her legs in the air.

"How is she alive?" Yui asked to no one in particular.

"Simple. My spike didn't hit any part of her body." Ethos answered as Yui looked at him, "The spike just went right through her hollow hole in her stomach. Right now she just hanging there, I didn't hurt her... not yet anyways."

"How did you know where to hit her without killing her? WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!" Yui yell as she struggled to break free. "Let me GO!" She screamed as she stabbed her zanpakuto into Ethos' stomach. The blood ran down the blade, over the guard, and down the handle to Yui's hand.

Yui froze as she felt the blood on her hands. She looked up at Ethos and just stared at him like a frighten rabbit. "Maybe this will put you at ease." Ethos said quietly so only Yui could hear him. Ethos pulled his forearm back slight so there wasn't too much pressure on her and leaned his face close to hers.

She felt his breath. It was very cold and made her skin crawl, yet it also made her feel warm on the inside. Ethos learned in even closer and closer until Yui felt something touch her lips. She suddenly felt weak. She closed her eyes and tried to remember were she felt this sensation before. She search her mind over and over again trying to remember.

Ethos broke the kiss a few moments later and looked at Yui for a few seconds. She still had her eyes closed but soon opened them and said, "Arrgosax?"

"Well that's a third right." Ethos said with a smile. Yui became confused for a moment until her attention was suddenly drawn to an intense pain in her stomach. Yui felt like she wanted to throw up as she realized that the man in front of her punched her in the stomach.

"You... son of...a," Yui tried to speak but Ethos covered her mouth with his right hand and slammed her against the spike again.

"Stupid whore." Ethos pulled Yui's zanpakuto from his stomach and aimed it right for her right eye. "If only you weren't weak."

"NO!" Manami yelled as Ethos pulled the blade back ready to end Yui's life. Ethos smiled and saw the terror in Yui's eyes, but just as he was about to finish her, he heard two strange noises. The first was a series of quick clicks and "whooshing" sounds followed but a cracking one. Ethos then felt a small sharp pain around the area of his right kidney as well as a warm numbing sensation.

Ethos turned his head to the left and saw that Manami was on the floor trying to get the tip of the spike, still in her hollow hole, out. _"How did she get down?"_ Ethos thought confused before looking over his right shoulder. At first he saw nothing then he looked down slightly and saw someone's hood.

Ethos turned his body to the right to get a better look at who saw standing in his blind spot. "God King Ethos Rak, you finally came" a voice whispered behind him.

"Who knows my name and title?" Ethos became extremely curious to know who stood or kneeled behind him because he was still unable to completely see the person without letting go on Yui.

"I've been waiting for the time you would come. I'm here to stop you." Ethos felt the pain in his lower back again. Ethos sighed deeply before throwing both Yui and her zanpakuto to the side. With his hands free, Ethos grabbed who ever was behind him by their hood, but as Ethos pulled them in front of him they slipped out of the white robes. Ethos threw the robe away and turned around to see who it was that knew his full name.

"What the hell? Are you serious?" Ethos stood in disbelief as he saw the person who knew his name and said they would stop him, "You, of all people, think you can stop me, Akiko?" Yui and Manami both got up from the floor and they too were surprised. Akiko was standing a few feet away from Ethos and will her robe off.

Akiko was thin girl with short black hair with pink tips. Akiko ran her fingers through her hair to move it behind her left ear. On her ear she had three silver ring piercings, two on the upper part of her ear and on her earlobe. Akiko, despite her small fragile looking frame, wore black heavy looking cloths. On her feet were large leather boots that went up just under her knees. The black boots had three belt straps around her legs and had a small sinister looking skull with small horns on the toes of the boots. Akiko wore a pair of black tight shorts that stop a few inches above her knees; she also wore a mini skirt that had pictures of "K"s made of bones going all the way around the skirt. Around her waist was a loose belt that had the small bag with the laughing skull and the initials. She had a tight black sleeveless shirt along with a zipped up leather jacket that was also sleeveless and only covered the upper half of her torso, stopping just under her flat chest. There were also four leather belt straps on Akiko's arms, two on each of her biceps, and on her left hand was a leather fingerless glove that went up and covered half her forearm with metal square pieces on her knuckles.

"Yeah, it's me Ethos, and I'm gonna kill ya." Akiko answered with a sly smile on her face.

"Come on, you can't beat me?"

"Oh yeah." Akiko said with another cocky smile. She ran toward Ethos with blinding speed that both Yui and Manami never knew she had. Akiko jump into the air and tried to stab Ethos in the face but Ethos simply grabbed her right wrist and stopped her attack.

"Well that was pointless, Akiko." Ethos said as he held her with only his left hand.

"Naw, I got in close just like I wanted to." Ethos eyes widen as she said this and threw her small zanpakuto into the air. The zanpakuto was a small butterfly knife with a blade about three inches in length and with a thin four inch handle. Ethos looked up that the blade spinning in the air which gave Akiko her opening.

She kick Ethos right side which caused him to flinch. She then reached up with her free left hand and caught the spinning knife as it fell. Akiko twirled the blade around each of her fingers and around her palm before grabbing hold of it with the blade pointing down to the floor. She reach back and stabbed Ethos in the side of his left knee.

"Damn... it." Ethos said as he tried his best to stand on his left leg but fell to his knee. Akiko pulled the blade back and twirled it again before grabbing it and slashing Ethos throat. Blood gushed out of his throat so Ethos dropped his zanpakuto and covered his wound as best he could with his right hand.

Akiko brought her knife to Ethos' left hand and slash his thumb. The slash didn't server the boney appendage, so Akiko stabbed the thumb again and bent her blade to the side. She bent the blade more and more until there was a snap.

Akiko snickered at the sound of the snap pulled her blade back. She then spun her arm in a counter clockwise direction and broke off the thumb freeing her from the death grip. She jumped back and took her fighting stance, which was similar to a ninja or assassin. She bent her knees and kept her legs slightly apart, her arms were in front of her body with the left arm close to her stomach and her zanpakuto in her right hand hovering above her left but closer to her face.

Akiko took a deep breath and bent her wrist so her zanpakuto was closer to her forearm."You letting bitch." Ethos growled as he let go of his throat and picked up the severed bone that was his thumb. "You think some flashy twirls of that little piece of crap and two quick slashes will kill me. HA!"

Ethos put the thumb close to his left and a small blue tentacle broke through his forearm bone and took hold of the thumb. "But you know I do have to give you some credit for that kick." Ethos smiled and picked up his zanpakuto as he stood up and looked at his left hand. "I didn't realize you stabbed me in the back, literally. That was a good strategy."

"Fuck you." Akiko replied.

"I didn't know you had such a bad mouth... and an attitude to match."

"There is a lot you don't know about me."

"I know. Its weird but I can't seem to remember." Ethos said as he looked up at her. Akiko took note that his thumb seemed to be reconnected and his wounds were closing.

"So it's true. High speed regeneration, but at this level... it's insane."

"So you testing my healing rate. How do you know so much about me, yet I can't seem to remember anything about you."

"Because Kruznik told me."

"Kruznik!?" Ethos eyes widen at the sound of the name, then he began to laugh for a moment. "HAHAHA! So, Kruznik was actually able to hide some memories from me. That would explain large pieces of his memory missing, and that goes for Arrgosax too." Ethos humph and smiled at Akiko.

"Yeah, he told me all about you and how to kill you too." Ethos' face suddenly went blank. "Yeah, that's right. I know that you aren't a god, but to kill you I'm gonna need some help kicking the crap out of you first." Akiko reached behind her back and unzipped the black bag on her waist. She reached in and pulled out a handle.

Ethos widen again as he realized what she pulled out. The handle was only sticking half way out of the small bag but it was about already close to three feet long. The handle was white and thin with golden stalks of leaf painted on it to make it seem like they were rapping around it. On the end of the handle was a small cone shaped weight that was covered with shiny rubies.

"Ohhhhh... fuck." Was all Ethos could say when he saw the handle.

"That's right Ethos. You know what this means." Akiko told him with another toothy smile. She turned her head made eye contact with someone, "MANAMI!!!" Ethos turned his head and looked at Manami being held up by Yui. Manami seemed to be frozen with a look of disbelief as she stared at the white handle. Then a sudden evil smile came across her face as she suddenly pushed Yui's arm away and ran toward Akiko.

"No you DON'T!" Ethos jumped toward Akiko to reach the object that Manami seem to be fixed on. Ethos pulled his sword back, ready to cut down Akiko as soon as he was close enough. Akiko looked up at Ethos but it was too late, he was too close to block or dodge. Ethos released his swing and Akiko fell backwards.

"Protector del Jade!" Yui yelled as she appeared in front of Ethos. Akiko opened her eyes and saw Yui standing with her left and in front of her and a massive light green shield holding off both Ethos and his attack.

"FUCKING SHIT!" Ethos roared as he glared at Yui through the green transparent wall.

"Thanks Yui."

"No prob. Now let's show this asshole what we can do." Yui said with a smile. Akiko nodded as she pulled another three feet of the handle out and threw the bag, with the handle still sticking out, into the air.

"Get it Manami!" Akiko yelled. Ethos looked up and saw Manami jump and grab the handle midway with her right hand. Manami glared at him as she pulled the last part of the object out of the bag.

Yui and Akiko jumped back, as Ethos stood still paralyzed by what he saw. Manami held her zanpakuto with both hands and looked down from the sky at him. Her zanpakuto was an extremely large hammer, the head of the hammer was as thick as Manami's torso length from her waist to her neck and nearly two to three feet wide. It was white like the handle but instead of golden leaves rapping around the head there were five large rubies that rapped around it instead, dividing the front and back of the hammer.

Ethos looked up at her standing in the sky. From Ethos point of view he saw Manami stand proud and strong with her zanpakuto in her hand and the moon directly behind her shining. "Beautiful. Manami... her zanpakuto... the moon. Everything. Now I know why he fell in love." Ethos whispered to himself, "Too bad, I was distined to be betrayed and alone forever."

Manami raised her weapon above her head and swung the hammer down. Right before the hammer made contact with Ethos body, he raised his sword to block the attack. As the two clashed, a shock wave thundered across the area. Ethos soon realized that he was being overwhelmed so he reached up and pushed the back of his blade to counter her strength.

Manami chuckled at this and put more force behind her attack. The added force of spiritual power caused a second shock wave which blew sand and dust into the air. Manami jumped back to Yui and Akiko and waited for the dust to settle.

"Did you get him?" Yui asked.

"Yeah, but it's not over." Manami answered as she stood with both of her hands still on her zanpakuto's handle.

Akiko took her stance as all three women stared and waited for a response. "Hehehe. So the weight of the moon is that strong." The three women tensed up at the sound of his voice. "But remember Manami: no matter how strong you get, the world will always be heavier than the moon."

The dust settled and the group saw Ethos. He was slouched over, his feet were in the sand and he was bleeding from his arms and shins. His shin and forearm bones were broken and stuck out of his body, it was amazing that he was still standing. "It looks like I can't go easy on you ladies." Ethos raised his head and smiled at them. "I think..." Ethos left shin bone snapped back into his leg with a loud wet snap, "I'm gonna..." his right shin snipped into place followed quickly by his forearms snapping back as well as he stood up straight, "enjoy this fight."

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I liked writing this chapter... ^_^


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